Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge with LoP in the Lok Sabha and party leader Rahul Gandhi, DMK MPs TR Baalu, Tiruchi Siva and others during a meeting of the INDIA bloc floor leaders ahead of the Union Budget 2026-27, at Parliament House, in New Delhi. Photo: AICC via PTI
INDIA bloc leaders resolve to corner govt on MGNREGA, SIR in Budget session
Opposition leaders meet in LoP Mallikarjun Kharge's chamber on January 28 to finalise strategy against scrapping of rural jobs scheme and voter roll revision
The upcoming Budget session is all set to get stormy, as floor leaders of several INDIA bloc parties have resolved to strongly raise the issue of MGNREGA repeal and SIR during the session.
According to sources, this decision was taken at a meeting held in Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge's chamber in Parliament House complex in Delhi on Wednesday (January 28).
Besides Kharge, former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, AICC general secretaries Jairam Ramesh and K C Venugopal, DMK's TR Baalu, Shiv Sena (UBT)'s Arvind Sawant, Samajwadi Party's Javed Ali Khan, RJD's Premchand Gupta, CPI(M)'s John Brittas, RSP's N K Premchandran, among others, attended the meeting.
Opposition's strategy
Sources said the leaders discussed the Opposition's strategy for the Budget session and vowed to raise the MGNREGA repeal strongly.
The meeting comes a day after top Congress leaders decided to raise in Parliament's Budget session issues concerning MGNREGA and SIR despite the government's refusal to debate them again.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the party's parliamentary strategy group held on Tuesday at the residence of Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi where the Leaders of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Rahul Gandhi and Kharge, were also present.
(With agency inputs)