New Delhi: The Trinamool Congress is preparing to corner the Centre over several issues including investments by SBI and LIC in private entities besides the recent hike in the cooking gas price in the upcoming Parliament session, reported news agency IANS.
As per the report citing sources, the decision was taken during a closed-door meeting in Kolkata on Wednesday evening. Chaired by West Bengal Chief Minister and party chief Mamata Banerjee, the meeting was attended by party's national general secretary, Abhishek Banerjee and the party leaders in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha — Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Derek O'Brien.
While the party did not make any official press briefing on the proceedings of the meeting, one of the party Lok Sabha members told the news agency on condition of anonymity that the TMC chief has directed the party leaders, both in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha to brief the respective MPs to debate on investments made by LIC and SBI in private entities.
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"The second major issue that we have been asked to focus on during the three-day Parliament session that gets underway on March 13, is how the Union government arbitrarily resorted to hike in the price of the cooking gas immediately after the polls for the three northeastern states of Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland," the Lok Sabha member added.
If time and situation permit, he added, the party MPs have also been asked to be vocal on other issues like denial of central dues to the state government and purported actions of the Union government that are contrary to the federal democratic system of the country. "The Women's Reservation Bill is yet another issue that we have been asked to raise," the party MP said.
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However CM Banerjee has given strict instructions to party legislators not to voluntarily raise the issue of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) taking Anubrata Mondol to New Delhi in connection to the cattle-smuggling scam.
Sources said that the party leadership has for the time being decided to take a low- key approach in the matter, at least in public domain.