The Congress Party has decided to boycott the breakfast party to be hosted by Vice President and Rajya Sabha chairman Venkaiah Nadu on Friday.
Naidu will host the breakfast party at 9.30 am for the appointment of his new deputy, Harivansh Singh, a lawmaker from the Janata Dal-United (JDU). However, the reason behind Congress' decision is not yet known, according to ANI.
NDTV, however, reported that a senior Congress leader told the news channel that the decision to stay away from the breakfast meet was taken as the party was upset at not being allowed to raise their concerns around the Rafale fighter jet deal,
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Singh, a National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate was elected new Raj Sabha deputy chairman with 125 votes on Thursday, defeating Congress' Member of Parliament (MP) BK Hariprasad.
In a boost to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance(NDA), its candidate Harivansh, the 62-year-old first-time MP from the Nitish Kumar-led party, got 125 votes as against 105 polled by Hariprasad, who was the opposition nominee.
The post of the deputy chairman is lying vacant since the retirement of P J Kurien of the Congress on July 1.
The entire House congratulated Harivansh with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a lighter vein, saying "ab sub kuch 'Hari Bharose'. Aur mujhe vishwas hai ke sabhi, idhar ho ya udhar, sabhi sansadon per Hari Kripa bani rahegi (everything is now in the hands of Hari or God. And I am confident that every member, whether on this side or that side, will have his mercy)."
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Leader of the House Arun Jaitley and Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad also led the felicitations. Jaitley, who is recuperating after a renal transplant, attended the house after a long gap.
(With agency inputs)
