'Temperature to rise...': Congress's ominous warning to BJP on Lok Sabha session

Buoyed with the Lok Sabha election results, the Congress on Tuesday warned the BJP-led government that Parliament will not run “dictatorially as was done earlier”.

Hinting at a stormy Parliament session, the party's spokesperson, Supriya Shrinate said a rise in the temperature of the House is expected because a resurgent Opposition will take on the BJP.

She said she has sympathies with the BJP because several big leaders of the INDIA bloc, who are good speakers, have been elected to the Lok Sabha.

Asked whether the Opposition would be demanding the deputy speaker's post, she said the chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party, Sonia Gandhi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and other senior leader will take a decision regarding it.

"But I can tell you one thing - fasten your seat belts because the temperature of the House is going to rise tremendously. Now the House will not be run dictatorially as was done earlier," Shrinate said at a press conference in Delhi today.

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"It does not matter who becomes the Speaker and who becomes the Deputy Speaker. In Rahul Gandhi's 14-minute speech, you will not see the Speaker for 11 minutes now. I can tell you this, and this is the power of democracy," she said.

The Congress won 99 Lok Sabha seats in the recently concluded elections. The Opposition's INDIA bloc won 234 Lok Sabha seats.

The BJP emerged as the single-largest party with 240 seats. However, unlike 2019, it fell 32 short of a simple majority in the Lok Sabha. The party is dependent on JD(U), TDP and Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena.

Also read: Navigating the Transition: The Role of Speaker Pro-Tem in the 18th Lok Sabha

Referring to Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's candidature from Wayanad, she said sharp speakers will become members of the Lok Sabha.

"Priyanka ji is going to come to the House where they were not able to handle Rahul ji. Big leaders of India bloc, sharp speakers, all are going to come, what will happen to these poor people. So I want to offer my advance sympathy and condolences to the BJP. Now the House will not be run dictatorially," she said.

The first session of the 18th Lok Sabha will begin on June 24 and conclude on July 3.

With inputs from PTI