NEW DELHI: Hailing opposition unity evident in the way the INDIA bloc parties cornered the BJP led NDA in the monsoon session of Parliament, TMC’s Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’ Brien said that while the session that ended on Thursday belonged to the opposition, it was the protests over the NEET paper leaks at Jantar Mantar by youth that set the pitch for what followed in Parliament.“This was a session that belonged to the opposition. This was a win for the students and youth of the country. What they did till July 20, we the MPs had to just carry that forward. It was their win,” O’Brien said.“They taught us MPs how to use humour in serious political communication. What happened was because of the youth-student movement. Just from criticising the govt it went to ridiculing the govt,” he added citing examples of slogans coined by Gen Z to attack the govt during the protests. The TMC leader further said that a key takeaway from this session was that the opposition worked in a coordinated way.On Thursday all opposition parties had a casual meeting in the lobby of Rajya Sabha just to tell each other that all had worked as a team, an opposition MP said. He added that it was basically an assessment that the opposition really did well in the way it went about raising issues and there was a lot of unity.Opposition members highlighted that not just the INDIA bloc members but the opposition also found the way to create room for AAP which is no longer part of the grouping to speak and also DMK to make their point amid the protests in the House. The DMK distanced itself from the wider opposition INDIA bloc following friction with Congress since the latter severed its longstanding alliance with it and decided to support the TVK govt in Tamil Nadu.
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Going forward, the INDIA bloc parties have decided to keep up the momentum and build on the unity seen in the current session to counter the ruling dispensation till the winter session. There was also consensus that if the INDIA bloc is meeting anytime soon then the date should be announced in August itself. The bloc had held its last meeting on June 8 and had announced that they propose to meet next in Hyderabad in August. However, the date of the meeting is yet to be decided.
