CPM raises objection to Priyanka meeting PM on last day of session

SLAMMING Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for attending the tea party hosted by the BJP government after the conclusion of the Winter Session of Parliament, INDIA bloc ally CPM on Monday said the move sent a ‘wrong message’ when the Centre had ‘bulldozed’ the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

- PREETHA NAIR @New Delhi

Speaking to reporters in the national capital, CPM Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas said the optics of Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi sharing tea with Prime Minister Narendra Modi undermined the Opposition’s collective stand against the government’s handling of key legislations and parliamentary procedures during the session.

“At a time when the Opposition was protesting the manner in which crucial Bills, including those impacting MGNREGA, were pushed through Parliament, such a meeting sends a wrong signal to the public,” Brittas said, adding that the interaction weakened the Opposition’s narrative of resistance.