Sonia Gandhi calls meeting on July 15 to finalise Monsoon session strategy

Congress parliamentary party leader Sonia Gandhi will chair a key meeting on Tuesday to finalise the party's strategy for the upcoming Monsoon session of Parliament which is expected to witness confrontations between the opposition and the government on a host of issues.

Opposition parties are expected to raise strong concerns over the Election Commission's move to carry out a Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar.

Also, the Congress has been demanding a discussion on the Pahalgam attack, Operation Sindoor as well as the diplomatic outreach following that.

The Congress' parliamentary strategy group meeting is expected to be attended by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, among others. It will be chaired by Sonia Gandhi at her 10, Janpath residence, party sources said.

The government has announced that the Monsoon session of Parliament will begin on July 21 and continue till August 21, a week longer than planned earlier, signalling a heavy legislative agenda.

Earlier, the session was to conclude on August 12, but now it has been extended by a week.

The longer duration of the session comes amid the government's plans to bring in key legislations, including one to facilitate the entry of the private sector in the atomic energy domain.

The government is planning to amend the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act and the Atomic Energy Act to implement the announcement in the Union Budget to open up the nuclear sector for private players.

The opposition has been demanding a debate on Operation Sindoor -- the strike on terror sites in Pakistan by the Indian armed forces in response to the terrorist attack in Pahalgam on April 22.

The opposition parties have also been demanding answers from the government on US President Donald Trump's claims of mediation in the India-Pakistan conflict to avert a nuclear war.

The government has rejected Trump's claims with Prime Minister Narendra Modi telling him, during a phone call last month, that India has never accepted mediation and would not ever accept it in future.