New Delhi [India], July 19 : Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI) leader and Lok Sabha MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar on Sunday slammed the Trinamool Congress (TMC) for its decision to boycott the all-party meeting held ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament, labelling the act as "unprecedented and unbecoming."
Speaking to ANI, Dastidar emphasised that the all-party meet is a crucial platform for deciding the future course of action and legislative business, and urged the party leadership to introspect on the internal dissent within its ranks.
"Boycotting or walking out of such a meeting is unprecedented and unbecoming; this is where we determine our future course of action," Dastidar said.
"They (TMC) ought to reflect on why 20 people are angry with them. However, walking out was not the right thing to do; that is not how democracy works," she said.
She further noted that despite political differences, parliamentary processes require collective effort for national progress. "Everyone will work together for the development of the nation," she said.
The all-party meeting was convened by the government in the national capital to ensure the smooth functioning of the upcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament, scheduled to begin tomorrow.
A meeting was held under the Chairmanship of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, with leaders of political parties, on Sunday in the Parliament House Complex, New Delhi to discuss issues relating to ensuing Monsoon Session of Parliament, 2026.
In total, the meeting was attended by 58 Leaders from 40 political parties including Ministers.
Speaking on the opposition walk-out, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said that the walkout staged by the opposition leaders should not be seen as a boycott, as it was symbolic in nature.
"It should not be viewed as a boycott of the entire day's proceedings, it was symbolic," he told reporters after the meeting, which saw a chaotic turn soon after commencing as opposition leaders walked out over the recent political shifts involving 20 Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs and Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), along with six UBT Sena MPs, shifting to the Shiv Sena.
This comes ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament, which is set to begin on July 20 and is scheduled to end on August 13. The mergers have ignited speculation around the Centre bringing back the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, which proposes an increase in the number of seats in the Lok Sabha up to 850 and implementing the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023, to provide 33 per cent reservation to women in legislatures.
The NDA is likely to move closer to the two-thirds majority mark of 360 in the House of 540 members, with three seats currently vacant.