What happened

Opposition parties staged a brief walkout from an all-party meeting held at Parliament House ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament. The protest followed the government’s invitation to a breakaway Trinamool Congress faction to the meeting.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju defended the invitation and said the rebel MPs had sought recognition from the Lok Sabha Speaker and could not be ignored. Opposition parties said the Speaker had not yet recognised the group’s claim of merger with a Tripura-based party and objected to treating the breakaway MPs as a separate bloc.

After the protest, party leaders returned to the meeting and pressed for discussion on several governance and political controversies, including the alleged theft of donations made to the Ram temple, the NEET paper leak controversy, ethanol-blended petrol (E20), the Delhi Police action at Jantar Mantar involving activist Sonam Wangchuk, a continuing hunger strike by students, and the situation in Manipur.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who chaired the meeting, said the BJP-led government was managing the crisis triggered by the U.S.-Iran stand-off. Rijiju later described the walkout as symbolic rather than a full-day boycott.

Background and earlier position

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