Sonia Gandhi ticks off Cong MPs over Talaq Bill vote

New Delhi: The newly-elected Congress Members of Parliament in Lok Sabha who voted against the introduction of the controversial Triple Talaq Bill when a division vote was called for have been ticked off by none other than CPP leader Sonia Gandhi for not being aware of the correct stand of the Congress Party on the Bill.

The party had till now maintained that it was not against the Bill in principle and the Supreme Court has already invalidated Triple Talaq, but it was opposed to the criminalisation clause and this was a civil matter.

When the Bill was introduced in this session, AIMIM member Asaduddin Owaisi, while opposing the Bill, had pressed for a division vote which saw 186 members voting in favour and 76 against it.

Law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had told the media later that the Congress had joined Mr Owaisi in opposing the Bill and had not learnt any lessons from its Lok Sabha defeat.  He said that the Congress party had in the last term walked out when the Bill was passed and had not opposed the Bill.

Following this incident, Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor had been asked to inform the MPs about the correct view of the party and he gave a presentation earlier this week on the Bill details as well as the party’s stand, sources told this newspaper.  

The move to educate MPs about the Triple Talaq Bill was part of Congress’s efforts to finally get its act together in Parliament following the massive drubbing it got in the Lok Sabha polls where it had managed to improve its tally by a mere 9 seats from 44 to 53.

CPP leader Mrs Gandhi has asked the Lok Sabha MPs to meet every morning to discuss the day’s agenda and the party’s stand on various issues.

Mrs Gandhi has also directed Party Leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and Chief Whip K Suresh to appoint separate coordinators from each state to deal with their particular issues, the sources said.  

Most of the morning meetings are attended by besides Mrs Gandhi, Congress president Rahul Gandhi and some senior leaders from the Rajya Sabha.