‘Bihar special status, NEET row, and more’, Oppn's demands in all-party meeting ahead of Budget Session | 10 points

The central government is preparing for another turbulent Parliament session starting on July 22. During an all-party meeting on Sunday, the Opposition parties raised contentious issues such as special status for Bihar, the NEET-UG 2024 issue, and the Kanwar order controversy.

In the meeting before the Budget Session, Congress demanded the deputy speaker's post for the Opposition. MP Gaurav Gogoi also discussed the NEET-UG controversy and the alleged misuse of agencies like the ED and CBI.

What happened in all-party meeting? Here are top 10 updates

1) Samajwadi Party MP Ramgopal Yadav addressed the Uttar Pradesh government's contentious directive for eateries along the Kanwariya route to display the owners' names, PTI reported.

2) The YSR Congress discussed the TDP government's purported targeting of its leaders in Andhra Pradesh and requested intervention from the Centre.

3) Congress leader Jairam Ramesh noted that during the all-party meeting, the JD(U) and the YSRCP requested special category status for Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, respectively. However, he found it "strange" that the TDP remained silent on the issue.

4) “In today's all-party meeting of floor leaders chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, the JD(U) leader demanded special category status of Bihar. The YSRCP leader demanded special category status for Andhra Pradesh. Strangely, the TDP leader kept quiet on the matter," Ramesh wrote on X.

5) BJP president J P Nadda, Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi, Union Minister Chirag Paswan, Defence Minister Singh, and Union Minister Kiren Rijiju attended the meeting. Other leaders present included Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh and K Suresh, AIMIM's Asaduddin Owaisi, RJD's Abhay Kushwaha, JD(U)'s Sanjay Jha, AAP's Sanjay Singh, SP's Ramgopal Yadav, and NCP's Praful Patel.

6) “On behalf of Biju Janata Dal (BJD), we have placed several demands in the all-party meeting...Odisha has been deprived of the special category status for more than two decades...,” said BJD MP Dr Sasmit Patra after the meeting.

7) “Political parties from Bihar and Andhra Pradesh have also demanded special category status for their respective states. BJD has demanded special category status for Odisha...,” Patra said.

8) “The second issue is the non-revision of coal royalty for the state of Odisha...We raised the issue about the declining central transfer of funds and the need to work towards it...No action has been taken against the Governor of Odisha's son who had beaten a Raj Bhawan staffer is extremely shocking,” he added.

9) "These are formalities, such meetings are called before every session... All parties have given their suggestions on the budget session. Many parties have raised the issues of their respective states. What I have suggested is that the session should run smoothly without any interruptions, which has become a tradition now to interrupt and create chaos. All the matters should be discussed and debated, but peacefully...," said NCP leader Praful Patel.

10) The session begins on Monday and will have 19 sittings till August 12 when the government is expected to present six bills, including the one to replace the 90-year-old Aircraft Act, and also get Parliament's nod for the budget of Jammu and Kashmir, which is under central rule. Sitharaman will also table the Economic Survey in Parliament on Monday.

(With inputs from agencies)