# Cong, SP, TMC skip speaker Birla’s customary meet; DMK attends 2026-08-14T06:42:24+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet The Congress, Samajwadi Party and Trinamool Congress boycotted the customary meeting with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla after the acrimonious monsoon session ended on Thursday, Hindustan Times reports. The DMK, however, attended the meeting. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah and other top leaders were present. A Congress leader said the three parties wanted to avoid joining as nothing substantial was discussed in the session. Bills were passed amid din, and demands for debates on police excess against students and a donation theft in Ayodhya remained unfulfilled. Rahul Gandhi has skipped these meetings for several sessions. TMC cited pending petitions for disqualification of 20 defectors as its reason. ## Coverage - hindustantimes.com Tags: boycott, Congress, Monsoon session, Om Birla, Opposition, Parliament Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/cong-sp-tmc-skip-speaker-birlas-customary-meet-dmk-attends/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/cong-sp-tmc-skip-speaker-birlas-customary-meet-dmk-attends/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes.