Another gathbandhan? Opposition discusses forming 'people's platform'

This platform will likely include key Opposition parties and will soon discuss their coming together under a common charter

While the three parliamentary financial committees of estimates, public accounts, and public undertakings have been put in place, the Central government is yet to constitute the 24 department-related standing committees even after three months of the 17th Lok Sabha being constituted. Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury on Tuesday said these committees kept the government on its toes, and that Parliament could, from the next session, become a "sham", given the brute majority the government has in the Lok Sabha and its near majority in the Rajya Sabha. Yechury and other Opposition leaders are discussing the formation