NEW DELHI: Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Friday chaired a review and strategy meeting of Congress MPs in Lok Sabha. Party’s Thiruvananthapuram MP, Shashi Tharoor, skipped the meeting chaired by Rahul Gandhi.News agency ANI reported Tharoor had informed the leadership in advance about his unavailability, while senior Congress leader and Chandigarh MP Manish Tewari was also absent from the meeting.The Congress, which has 99 MPs in the Lok Sabha, convened the meeting to assess the party’s performance in the ongoing session and to discuss its response to key issues being raised in Parliament, news agency ANI reported.The discussions are understood to have focused on the government’s stance during the election reform debate and the Opposition’s floor strategy in the days ahead.The review huddle comes a day after Rahul Gandhi escalated his criticism of Amit Shah, accusing the home minister of evading pointed questions raised by the opposition during the debate.Speaking to reporters outside Parliament on Thursday, Gandhi claimed Shah appeared “nervous” during his intervention.“Amit Shah ji was very nervous yesterday. He used the wrong language, his hands were trembling. He is under tremendous mental pressure. Everybody saw this yesterday,” Gandhi alleged. “What I asked him, he did not answer directly. He gave no proof. I have directly challenged him to come on the ground and let us discuss all my press conferences in the Parliament. I got no answer,” he said.The BJP, however, hit back, accusing the Congress and Rahul Gandhi of indulging in “hit-and-run” politics.Union minister Giriraj Singh targeted the Congress leader, alleging that he avoids listening to the government’s side of the story in Parliament.“Rahul Gandhi adopts a hit-and-run formula. When the Prime Minister and the home minister speak, he walks out, this is his democracy. He doesn’t have the strength to listen to the truth. He felt bad after hearing what the Union Home Minister said yesterday. I believe that Rahul Gandhi will have to give up this habit. The entire Nehru family was thrown into disarray by the Home Minister’s speech,” Singh said.Tensions between the ruling party and opposition benches have been running high since Wednesday, when a heated exchange broke out between Amit Shah and Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha over allegations of “vote theft” during the debate on electoral reforms.
