Opposition Slams Indian PM as Modi Skips All-Party Meeting a Day Before Winter Session of Parliament

Narendra Modi's government has faced pressure from both the opposition and 40 farmers' unions since his cabinet passed three controversial farm laws last year. After a year of massive protests, the PM recently announced that the laws will be repealed during the Winter Session of parliament, set to begin from 29 November.

A group of opposition parties, including Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), have slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his decision to skip an important all-party meeting convened by his government on Sunday.

What riled the opposition was the timing of Modi's decision as it came just a day before the crucial Winter Session of parliament was set to begin.

On Monday, the Modi-led government is set to introduce a new bill to roll back three contentious farm laws that came into existence in 2020.

The new Farm Laws Repeal Bill, 2021, will set aside the three pieces of legislation passed into law last year – the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020.

Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge was furious with Modi as he alleged that the PM had broken an age-old tradition of meeting opposition leaders before the advent of a new parliament session.

Moreover, Kharge also cast doubts about the government's intentions as he claimed that the farm laws could be back in the future.

"We were expecting that the prime minister will attend the meeting and will share something with us. We wanted to ask more about the farm laws as there are some apprehensions that these three farm laws may again come in some other form", Kharge told the Indian media on Sunday.

AAP MP Sanjay Singh was even more scathing in his attack on Modi and his cabinet colleagues as he accused the government of not allowing the opposition to speak in such meetings.

"They [the government] don't let any member speak during all-party meetings. I raised the issue of bringing [forth a] law on MSP guarantee in this session of the parliament and other issues, including [the] extension of BSF's jurisdiction, etc. They don't want us to speak in all-party meets and parliament", Sanjay Singh said.

Modi's government, though, remained unperturbed despite the criticism from its rivals.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi even dismissed allegations that the PM had broken some kind of tradition by not being present at the all-party meeting.

"There was no tradition of the prime minister attending the all-party meeting; it was started by Modiji. He couldn't attend today's meeting", Joshi said after the gathering.