Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a scathing attack on Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, accusing them of "speaking the language of urban naxals" and being "AAP-da" for the youth. He also took a swipe at former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, saying those who entertain themselves by getting photo sessions done in huts of the poor will find the talk about the poor in Parliament boring. Modi also hailed his government's decisions in the Budget and said that the Ayushman Bharat scheme, which his government started for the poor, has been stalled by some states, leaving poor people in hardship.
It was also the shortest speech by Sitharaman, who had delivered the longest speech last year. Her first Budget speech in July 2019 went on for around 137 minutes and in 2020, it went on for more than 160 minutes and was cut short after she felt unwell.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday said it was doubtful whether any key legislation, except for the vote-on-account, would be passed in the current session of Parliament.
The rising goods and services tax (GST) and personal income-tax collections may bolster the Narendra Modi government's ability to announce new schemes or enhance existing ones.
Bharatiya Janata Party general secretary Sushma Swaraj indicated that the NDA would stall proceedings in the Budget session in the Parliament on the issue.
The Opposition on its part wants to corner the government by raising issues like alleged shortcomings in the healthcare system during the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic and the distribution of Covid vaccines to states.
The National Democratic Alliance on Monday said it will allow the Parliament to function if formation of Joint Parliamentary Committee to probe the 2G spectrum allocation scam is announced by the government on Tuesday, but would continue to raise irregularities in the Commonwealth Games-related projects and Adarsh Housing scam.
The BJP has identified about 40 issues and decided to reserve certain days to raise major issues.
They said the proposal to bring a motion was mooted at the meeting of party MPs this morning and Congress leaders are now talking to other party leaders over it.
The government on Wednesday said it wants to bring the bill to set up anti-corruption ombudsman, Lokpal, in Rajya Sabha during the first part of the current Budget session of Parliament.
While Defence Minister Rajnath Singh spoke about the consensus, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said there is no need for a separate discussion in Parliament on the Pegasus issue during the budget session.
The session spread over ten sittings is essentially for taking a vote on account on Railway and General Budgets but being the first one during the year, it will begin with the President's address on the opening day. An inkling of the shape of things to come was evident when the ruling Congress and main opposition BJP virtually kicked off their poll campaign on Sunday, taking on each other on issues like terrorism, unemployment and inflation.
The Supreme Court will hear on Tuesday NCP leader Mohammed Faizal's plea against the Lok Sabha Secretariat for not withdrawing a notification disqualifying him as an MP upon his conviction and 10-year sentence that was later stayed by the Kerala high court.
Congress leader K C Venugopal on Friday gave Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar a breach of privilege notice against Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his remarks on why former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru's family did not use his surname.
Joshi, however, clarified that he did not support the banned practice and that his remarks were on the tradition of 'Jauhar'.
These have to be passed in this session to meet the September 15 deadline for switching over to the new indirect tax regime, Jaitley said.
Participants will keenly watch fate of GST Bill in Parliament.
The House was adjourned seconds after convening amid ruckus over various issues, and Rahul Gandhi left Parliament soon after that.
While the Congress will go on fast on April 9, BJP MPs will go on a day-long fast on April 9.
Rajya Sabha proceedings were adjourned for the day as amid uproarious scenes with the opposition and treasury benches shouting slogans.
The second leg of the budget session is of 23 days and all 14 days so far have been wasted.
Kharge was elected Congress president, defeating Shashi Tharoor in an electoral contest, the sixth in the party's 137-year-old history.
A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Justice KM Joseph asked the mobile messaging app to give advertisement in five newspapers to publicise its undertaking given to the government.
'When voting clause by clause on Waqf came up in the JPC, the TDP and JD-U supported the BJP on each and every clause.'
The acrimony started when BJP member Sushil Modi demanded the removal of Union Minister Taslimuddin.
A united opposition is set to corner the NDA government on issues ranging from the NEET paper leak case to railway safety.
While a DFI will help banks derisk their loan portfolios, creation of a bad bank will clean up their balance sheets.
Party chief Amit Shah will hold a sit-in at Hubli in poll-bound Karnataka on the same day.
If you are rich and if you have money, you can buy the Indian examination system, Rahul claimed.
Both Houses met for the first time in the second part of Budget Session and saw repeated adjournments as the Opposition continued protests.
The session will have 20 working days for now.
The last session of the current Lok Sabha beginning on Thursday is expected to be stormy with political parties likely to extract the maximum mileage ahead of the general elections.
The government will come out with a White Paper on the mismanagement of economy prior to 2014 with an aim to draw lessons.
The idea behind advancing the Budget date is to ensure that the Finance Bill is passed before the start of the financial year, on April 1, so that all central government departments get their full allocations to work with right from the first day
From bhikshus of Ashokan 3rd century BC and medieval Sufis to Oxfam, Omidyar and Soros now, non-State actors have any real power only when they work in conjunction with a real State, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
'Suddenly we had a new comprehension of affairs, which reminded that the luxury of politics floated atop a foundation by economics.' 'Along with this, finance ministers became crucial in molding the perception and reputation of Union Cabinets.' 'Governments couldn't afford a wrong person in that portfolio,' asserts Shyam G Menon.
A government source on Saturday said that the matter related to Pegasus software is being monitored by a committee under the Supreme Court and its report is awaited.
The government on Wednesday did not rule out appointment of some new governors before the Budget Session of Parliament beginning July 7, saying a concrete situation will emerge only after three to four days.
Proceedings in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were disrupted as Opposition members raised slogans demanding a discussion and a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the fraud-allegation-triggered rout.
The second half of the budget session of Parliament, beginning on Monday, is all set to be a stormy affair with opposition parties closing ranks over the imposition of Presidents' rule in Uttarakhand.
