Ahead of Parliament session, senior Cong leaders meet at Sonia's residence
New Delhi (PTI): Top Congress leaders on Sunday evening met at the residence of Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi and held discussions on the party's strategy for the Winter session of Parliament starting Monday.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi were present in the meeting.
At the meeting, the leaders decided to raise the demand for a discussion on the electoral reforms which would include Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
Congress deputy leader in Rajya Sabha Pramod Tiwari said opposition leaders would meet at the office of Kharge, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, at 10 am on Monday to chalk out their joint strategy in Parliament.
He said an all-party meeting was held and then a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee of the Rajya Sabha was also held.
After considering the views of the entire Opposition, the parliamentary affairs minister has indicated that a discussion on electoral reforms can be held, he said.
"The entire Opposition wants that there should be a discussion on electoral reforms, as such discussions have happened earlier too. This is our topmost priority," Tiwari said.
"We have a clear stand. Considering the Opposition's concerns, an indication was given by the parliamentary affairs minister that they would consider holding a discussion on electoral reforms," he said.
The Congress leader said the issue of national security needs to be discussed as the Red Fort is not safe any longer with terrorists reaching there. Besides, issues of price rise, unemployment, tinkering with federal structure, and step-motherly treatment with opposition-ruled states are also there and need to be discussed, he said.
"We also want a discussion on air pollution in the national capital," he said.
"We will meet tomorrow at 10 am in the chamber of Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha and will decide our future course of action and chalk out our strategy," Tiwari said.
The Congress' meeting was also attended by senior leaders including Jairam Ramesh, Manish Tewari, and Manickam Tagore.
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Karnataka: Indigo disruption forces newlyweds to attend reception online
Hubballi (Karnataka) (PTI): The venue was all decked up and a delicious spread ready for the invitees. But Megha Ksheerasagar and Sangam Das could not be present for their own wedding reception, thanks to the national flight disruptions that has sent many passengers across the country into a tizzy.
The newlyweds' reception was fixed here on December 3, but the couple was forced to attend their grand event only via video conference due to the disruptions in top carrier Indigo's operations, mainly due to crew woes.
Not meaning to miss the important day, the couple appeared on a large screen at the venue through video conferencing from Bhubaneswar, greeted the guests and apologised for not being personally present.
Instead, the bride's parents graced the occasion at the scheduled reception venue--Gujarat Bhavan, here, on behalf of the couple that had tied the knot on November 23 in Odisha's Bhubaneswar.
According to the family, the couple, both software engineers, work in Bengaluru. The reception was arranged at the bride's native place in Hubballi on Wednesday.
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To be part of their special day, the couple had booked tickets on the Bhubaneswar-Bengaluru-Hubballi route for December 2. Some relatives had booked tickets on the Bhubaneswar-Mumbai-Hubballi route. However, due to operational disruptions, IndiGo flights were continuously delayed from 9 am on December 2 until early morning on December 3, and were eventually cancelled.
"My daughter's wedding happened on November 23 and we had organised a reception at our native place in Hubballi for people here. The flight kept getting delayed and at the last moment, at around 4 am, it got cancelled. Now what could we do after that. We had to come up with some solution. Then I decided to do the reception online. I immediately arranged for a screen and asked my daughter and son-in-law to join the reception online," the bride's father Anil Kumar Ksheerasagar told PTI Videos.
He urged the central government to take corrective measures so that public, being the tax payers, don't suffer.
"What the problem with IndiGo is, we don't know. My daughter and son-in-law were supposed to come via an IndiGo flight but that got cancelled. IndiGo alone can't be blamed. The government must understand that it is in case of emergencies that people prefer flights. Some measures need to be taken to resolve this issue. When the PM's flight gets cancelled, he is taken by helicopter. Why is the same not done for us, the common people. We also have emergencies, don't we. The government must think of this, and if they ignore public woes, they should remember that we are also VIPs because we pay tax."
Relatives had come for the reception from across the country--Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Bagalkote, Davangere and Belagavi.
"I didn't know what to do as relatives and guests had come from so many places. I was stressed, but then I quickly decided to do it online," Ksheerasagar said.
As the couple could not travel to Hubballi, the bride's parents sat in place of the newly-weds at the reception venue and conducted the rituals, while the bride and groom, dressed up in Bhubaneswar, attended their grand reception online.
