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New Delhi, Sep. 13 (PTI): The Congress and other opposition parties will oppose four of the 11 legislations the government proposes to bring in the monsoon session of Parliament in place of ordinances issued earlier and expect Prime Minister Narendra Modi to reply to their concerns.
Party leader Jairam Ramesh on Sunday said the Congress is in touch with other like-minded parties and has decided to strongly oppose the three agriculture-related legislations and the amendment to the Banking Regulation Act in both houses of Parliament.
The monsoon session of Parliament starts on Monday amid unprecedented measures in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Like-minded opposition parties have decided to evolve a joint strategy to take on the government on key issues before the country, including the handling of the pandemic, the state of the economy and the Chinese aggression at the border in Ladakh.
Addressing a virtual press conference, Ramesh said, "We want a discussion in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on the situation at the border with China, the state of the economy, the closure of businesses and the state of the MSME industry, the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and other issues like airport privatisation, the draft EIA notification."
"We hope the Opposition would get an opportunity to speak and serious national issues would be discussed. We expect the prime minister to be present in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha and give a reply to the questions raised by us. The prime minister does not come and we want that he should be present in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha," he added.
Asked about when the opposition parties would meet to come up with the joint strategy, Ramesh said the leaders of various like-minded parties have been meeting virtually and it is being worked out.
"Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, KC Venugopal and myself have been talking to all like-minded opposition parties. We are in constant touch with them. We have discussed various issues to be raised and the stands to be adopted on the ordinances," he added.
The former Union minister said the like-minded parties are opposed to four ordinances that the government had brought earlier and will now bring legislations to replace those.
He said the four ordinances -- three related to the farm sector and the amendment to the Banking Regulation Act -- take away the rights of the states and lead to further centralisation of power.
"There is a common ground that we should oppose these ordinances," Ramesh said.