Manickam Tagore: ‘Delimitation Bill the same … why should Opposition change stand?’

*What are the key issues that the Opposition will focus on during the Monsoon Session?

The issues will be discussed in a meeting of all Opposition parties on Monday morning. The Congress has identified the main issues. While we want Parliament to function, we do not want it to become all about the government’s business. The Opposition must be heard. We want to discuss issues like paper leaks, chanda chori (alleged donation theft at Ayodhya Ram Temple), Manipur turmoil, and the illegal breaking of parties by the government to conjure a (two-thirds) majority.

*How do you think the reduced tally of the Opposition will play out in Parliament?

It is unfortunate that horse trading is taking place in this way. The people voted to prevent the BJP from securing a majority. However, the BJP is buying and threatening MPs, and splitting parties. (Union Home Minister) Amit Shah and (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi are misusing agencies.

*The government may re-introduce Bills related delimitation in the upcoming session after they were defeated in the previous session…

We know people voted in a certain way. Before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the PM declared that the BJP will cross 400 (seats) but it did not happen. For the first time, the PM had to depend on his allies to form the government.

The new Delimitation Bill is a bid to snatch away voices of southern, eastern and western India. They (government) are not ready to back down despite the Bill being defeated less than 100 days ago. Nothing has changed. We hope those who voted against the Bill in April do so again.

*Is the Congress reaching out to parties like the DMK and NCP (SP), who have yet to make their stand clear on the Delimitation Bill?

There is no reason for them to change their stand from April 17, when voting happened on the Bills. (Congress president) Mallikarjun Kharge and other leaders are in touch with parties. We are communicating with all parties to defeat the Bill.

*We saw the Opposition walk out of the all-party meeting on Sunday. Will we see more such situations where the ruling side and the Opposition are not on the same page?

We knew what horse trading was but now we are seeing elephant trading. The TMC MPs have merged with the Nationalist Citizens Party of India (NCPI), which suddenly has 20 MPs. This is against the Constitution and parliamentary democracy.

*The CJP and activist Sonam Wangchuk have announced a march to Parliament on Monday. Will Congress MPs participate given that the party has extended support to the protesters?

(Leader of the Opposition) Rahul Gandhi has been raising the issue of the (deteriorating) education system for the past two years. He went with it to the people of Kota. He also raised it in Parliament and was told by (Union Education Minister) Dharmendra Pradhan that things will improve.

Still, some organisations are taking up these issues and we do not have any problems with those taking up people’s causes. We are clear. We want Pradhan to go. We will continue to raise these issues inside and outside Parliament.

*Some Opposition leaders have participated in the protest at Jantar Mantar and are likely to join the CJP’s march to Parliament. Why does the Congress not seem to be on the same page with its allies?

The Congress is the main national Opposition party and cannot be forced into doing what someone wants us to do. Rahul Gandhi has put out a post on X (on the issue) and many of our MPs are supporting this cause. We condemn the treatment meted out to Wangchuk.

We have been taking the issue seriously for two years. We want accountability on the paper leaks.