TMC MPs participate in mock Parliament session

NEW DELHI: Trinamool Congress today organised a mock Parliament session here with participation of 46 party MPs from both Houses and school students here.

Issues which could not be discussed in Monsoon session of Parliament were taken up in the mock Parliament session, said TMC Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien.

Monsoon session, which began on July 21, could not transact any major business due to repeated adjournments.

TMC had decided to organise the mock session to discuss the key issues the party wanted to raise in Parliament.

Land Bill, which is a very contentious issue, was taken up during the mock session and the Treasury benches bowed to the Opposition stand against the Bill and had to withdraw the Bill.

Key issues such as black money, cooperative federalism were also raised by MPs including Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Saugata Roy, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Dinesh Trivedi spoke on behalf of the Opposition.

Rajya Sabha MPs Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, Ahmed Hassan Imran and Nadimul Haque sat in the Treasury benches with students.

Lok Sabha MP Ratna De Nag acted as the 'Speaker' in this mock session and Prime Minister's chair was kept vacant.

Students from Frank Anthony Public School have dressed up as members of Parliament Secretariat in the session.

Tanishka and Richa who played the role of 'Finance Minister' and 'Rural Development Minister' respectively in the mock session were upbeat about their experience. "It was a great learning experience. We understood hands on how the Parliament functions. A day well spent," they said.

The monsoon session witnessed uproarious scenes as Opposition parties, led by the Congress, demanded resignation of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje over Lalit Modi case and also of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan over the alleged Vyapam scam.