New Delhi: 

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi led a breakfast meeting of opposition leaders this morning – the second this week – amid disruptions and protests in parliament over the Pegasus snooping row, the handling of the pandemic, and farmers’ agitation, among other issues. The meeting was called to discuss the option of holding a “mock parliament” outside.

Nearly a week after his surprise tractor ride to parliament to back the demonstrations against new farm laws, Mr Gandhi, 51, rode a cycle to draw attention to the issue of fuel price hike, urging other leaders to join him. “One of the ways to draw the attention (of the government) to the issue is by cycling to parliament. People of India are struggling…” Mr Gandhi, 51, told the opposition leaders this morning at the breakfast meet. Several other opposition leaders were also seen riding cycles. 

Trinamool Congress’s Mahua Moitra, the NCP’s Supriya Sule, Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut, and the DMK’s Kanimozhi were among the leaders political parties attending the opposition meeting as they unite against the government

AAP MP Sanjay Singh, who skipped the breakfast meeting, said, “Attending or not attending (the meet) is not important. Whenever a discussion is held in parliament, we will support the farmers and raise the issue of snooping row.”

“The opposition is not letting the parliament function,” PM Modi told at the BJP parliamentary party meeting, which was held around the same time, sources said.

Union Minister Rajnath Singh had dialled up the Congress’s Mallikarjun Kharge, the leader of the opposition in Rajya Sabha, on Monday afternoon to seek his support amid protests, sources said. The government should allow discussions in parliament, Mr Kharge had told him.

While the monsoon session of parliament began on July 19, parliament has functioned for only 18 hours out of possible 107 hours in the first two weeks. More than ₹ 133 crore in taxpayer money has been lost because of disruptions, government sources said on Saturday.

The opposition has been demanding a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the Pegasus snooping row and the allegations that Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, poll strategist Prashant Kishore, judges, activists and even ministers were potential targets of an Israeli spyware.

The government has dismissed these demands, saying a statement read out in parliament by IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnav – one of the potential targets of the hacking – was sufficient. For days, the BJP has laboured to label the snooping of the phones a “non-issue”.

Last week, Rahul Gandhi addressed a meeting of 14 opposition parties. “The entire opposition is here… our voice is being curtailed in parliament. We are only asking if the Pegasus software was bought and if it was used against certain persons in India,” Mr Gandhi later asked, addressing the media.

“I want to ask the people – there is a weapon Narendra Modi has planted in your phones… used against opposition leaders, journalists, activists… should there not be a discussion in Parliament?” he questioned.

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, who was part of the meeting, stressed the opposition is “united in our stand to protect issues of national security, democracy and farmers’ welfare”.