Pegasus issue: Opposition leaders discuss strategy to corner govt in Parliament

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi attended the meeting at the chamber of the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge

The Opposition on Wednesday resolved to fight to the end on the Pegasus issue in Parliament with like-minded parties holding a meeting to strategise on the way forward while insisting that it was the government that is disrupting the Monsoon Session.

Leaders of 14 parties, including Congress' Rahul Gandhi, met in the morning before the Parliament assembled and decided to stick to their demand for a debate on Pegasus with the Prime Minister and the Home Minister in attendance and a Supreme Court-monitored probe.

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In the meeting, sources said, Rahul said the government was trying to defame the opposition by accusing them of not allowing Parliament to run and it should be countered.

In Lok Sabha, Opposition parties submitted identical adjournment motions, including in the name of Rahul, but were not allowed leading to disruption of the House.

Besides Rahul, those who attended the meeting chaired by the leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge included Adhir Chowdhury and Jairam Ramesh (Congress), DMK's TR Baalu, Tiruchi Siva and Kanimozhi, NCP's Supriya Sule and Praful Patel, Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut, National Conference leader Hasnain Masoodi, CPI-M's Elamaran Karim, CPI's Binoy Viswam, RSP's NK Premachandran, AAP's Bhagwant Mann and RJD's Manoj Jha.

Leaders of Samajwadi Party, Muslim League, Kerala Congress and VCK also attended the meeting. Trinamool Congress, JD(S) and BSP did not attend the meeting but indicated their support to the Opposition strategy on Pegasus.

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Opposition leaders also addressed the media in the afternoon with Rahul squarely blaming the government for the disruption in Parliament, saying it was running away from discussion. He said the Pegasus episode is an "issue of nationalism, treason... it is an anti-national work."

"We just have one question. Has the Government of India bought Pegasus, yes or no? Did the government use the Pegasus weapon on its own people, yes or no? That is all we wish to know. The opposition is united for a discussion on the Pegasus issue... We are not going anywhere till it is discussed in Parliament," Gandhi told reporters.

He claimed that the government was refusing to allow a discussion because it has "done something wrong, something dangerous" for the country.

Baalu said the government has given an impression that the opposition is against holding discussions in Parliament. Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav termed the government's claim that the opposition was running away from a discussion as "false propaganda".

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