INDIA bloc leaders to meet at Kharge's residence amid ongoing budget session

New Delhi [India], February 8 (ANI): The India bloc floor leaders are scheduled to meet on Monday at 10 AM at the residence of Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rajya Sabha and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.
In the meeting, they will discuss and decide on the future course of action for the ongoing Budget Session of Parliament.
On Thursday, the opposition MPs met at the office of the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, to discuss their floor strategy for parliamentary proceedings.
LoP Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi was also present in the meeting.
On Thursday, the entire Opposition staged a walkout from the Rajya Sabha while Prime Minister Narendra Modi was responding to the Motion of Thanks to the President's address.
The Opposition claimed that the Leaders of Opposition (LoP) in both the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha were not being allowed to speak, prompting them to stage a walkout.
"Vipaksha ki awaaz nahi dabegi. Tanashahi nahi chalegi. LoP (Leader of Opposition) ko bolne do. (The opposition's voice can't be suppressed. Dictatorship cannot work. Let the LoP speak)," the Opposition leaders raised slogans in the upper house of the Parliament.
The Opposition has been protesting against the Centre for allegedly not allowing Rahul Gandhi to quote former Army Chief General MM Naravane's unpublished memoir on the 2020 China standoff in Lok Sabha. The INDIA bloc has also been vocal, calling for a discussion on the India-US trade deal.
Meanwhile, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal addressed Parliament, stating that the interests of sensitive economic sectors, including agriculture and dairy, have been safeguarded.
Earlier, eight opposition members were suspended from the Lok Sabha for the remainder of the budget session for violating rules and "throwing papers on the chair" following an uproar in the House over Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's insistence on mentioning a specific reference to the 2020 border tensions with China in eastern Ladakh.
The government has said that Rahul Gandhi cannot quote from an unpublished memoir or a magazine article based on it.
The suspended MPs include Congress members Hibi Eden, Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Manickam Tagore, Gurjeet Singh Aujla, Prashant Yadaorao Padole, Chamala Kiran Kumar Reddy and Dean Kuriakose, along with CPI (M) MP S Venkatesan. (ANI)