Monsoon Session: 127th Constitution Amendment Bill giving power to States in identifying OBCs
New Delhi [India], August 9 : Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said that all Opposition parties will support The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Seventh Amendment) Bill, 2021 being introduced in Parliament today to give back power to States to identify social and economic backward classes. At a strategy meeting, opposition parties decided to co-operate with the Centre in passing the Bill to restore states’ power to identify backward classes. Kharge said, “The amendment is to give back power to States to identify social and economic backward classes. The Supreme Court, in May 2021, had ruled that only Centre can do so. “ “More than half of the population in the country belongs to the backward class. The bill will be introduced, will be considered on and will be passed on the same day,” Kharge said. With the Monsoon Session of the Parliament entering its final week, the opposition leaders on Monday met at the Chamber of Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge to chalk out a strategy to target the Central government over various issues including farmers’ protest, Pegasus spyware row, COVID-19 and inflation. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was also present at the meeting. The members of Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), All India Trinamool Congress (TMC), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Samajwadi Party (SP), Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and other opposition parties’ atttended the meeting. Earlier on Wednesday, six TMC MPs were suspended from the Rajya Sabha after they created ruckus in the morning over the Pegasus spying issue. Farmer unions and Opposition leaders have held demonstrations outside the Parliament demanding to scrap three farm laws. Due to the uproar, both houses have been facing several adjournments. Meanwhile, Congress MP Manish Tewari on Monday moved an adjournment motion notice in the Lok Sabha over the Pegasus report, an issue among others that has led to repeated adjournments of both the Houses of Parliament since the Monsoon Session commenced. Monsoon Session began on a stormy note on July 19 amidst uproar from Opposition parties who did not allow Prime Minister Narendra Modi to introduce newly-inducted Union ministers to the Parliament.
