Thursday was the penultimate day of the Budget Session of Parliament. The second half of the session which began on March 5 has been a washout with no legislative business being transacted due to stalling of proceedings by the opposition.
The Women's Reservation Bill, which provides for 33 per cent quota for women, will be considered by the Cabinet on Monday night and is expected to be introduced in the Rajya Sabha, sources said in Delhi. The bill is expected to be referred to the Standing Committee soon after being tabled in the Upper House, they said.
Influential Patel community leader Parshottam Rupala, minister in the first Narendra Modi government Mansukh Mandaviya and three-time MP Darshana Jardosh, all from Gujarat, were among those inducted in the Union cabinet on Wednesday.
Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh puts it succinctly: "Arun Jaitley was every non-BJP person's favourite BJP-ite."
Anna Hazare on Tuesday began his indefinite fast at his village in Maharashtra to press for immediate passage of Jan Lokpal Bill in Parliament even as Government said it was serious about getting the anti-graft measure passed in the current session itself.
The Delhi police was directed on Monday by a local court to file a report on a complaint of a key prosecution witness in the 2008 cash-for-vote scam case that Rajya Sabha member of Parliament Amar Singh and others had threatened and kidnapped him ahead of his deposition before a Parliamentary committee.
Members of Parliament on Sunday bid adieu to outgoing President Pranab Mukherjee.
BJP-led NDA has said it will strongly demand that the Telangana Bill be brought in the Winter Session of Parliament and press for debates on issues like internal security, violence against women and subversion of constitutional bodies like JPC on 2G scam.
Mapanna Mallikarjun Kharge, a staunch Gandhi family loyalist from Karnataka, has become the Congress' first non-Gandhi president in 24 years.
The project was announced in September 2019 and Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the new Parliament building on December 10, 2020.
Protests by members over Joint Parliamentary Committee report on spectrum scam, price rise, Telangana and the death of children in Muzaffarnagar relief camps disrupted Parliament on Monday leading to repeated adjournments.
Officials also said that sufficient steps have been taken to control air and noise pollution during the construction work for the new parliament building, which will have separate offices for all MPs and those will be equipped with the latest digital interfaces as a step towards creating 'paperless offices'.
The session will begin with the address of the President to the joint sitting of the two Houses on Friday morning followed by the presentation of the Union Budget on February 1.
Consensus building is likely to be the biggest casualty.
The Bill, which was already approved by the Rajya Sabha, defines child pornography, making it punishable.
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Congress general secretaries Digvijay Singh and Madhusudan Mistri are among the five Congress nominees for the Rajya Sabha elections announced on Monday. However, suspense still remains on whether former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit will join them.
Adani group stocks have taken a beating on the bourses after Hindenburg Research made a litany of allegations, including fraudulent transactions and share price manipulation at the Gautam Adani-led group. The group has maintained it complies with all laws and disclosure requirements.
"Horse trading band karo (Stop horse trading of MLAs)," Congress members shouted from the well.
Members of the Bahujan Samaj Party and Samajwadi Party on Thursday forced the adjournment of the Rajya Sabha for an hour, over the alleged inflammatory remarks made by Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee chief Bahuguna Joshi, against state Chief Minister Mayawati.Unrelenting BSP and SP members continued to raise the issue and the Left parties too supported them. As the din continued, Ansari adjourned the house till 12 pm.
Ruckus over Telangana statehood issue and plight of Tamil fishermen disrupted proceedings in the Rajya Sabha for the third consecutive day on Friday, leading to two adjournments before lunch.
At a meeting of the business advisory committee of Lok Sabha, which has floor leaders of all parties besides the government representatives and is chaired by the Speaker, most political parties favoured curtailment of the session, which started on September 14 and was scheduled to conclude on October 1.
President Pranab Mukherjee has given nod to re-promulgation of the controversial land ordinance, which could not be converted into law during the recently concluded Budget Session of Parliament, for the third time.
The Insurance Bill was deferred for consideration for the time being after a meeting
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday rejected Bharatiya Janata Party's charge that the Congress was taking a 'U-turn' on the Insurance Bill, saying that there are "no double standards" on the issue.
The winter session that begins on Thursday is likely to be a stormy with the Opposition stacking up a lot of ammunition to attack the government and it could be visible from day one.
It alleged that Gujarat police abducted its MLA to influence the upcoming RS elections.
This is the first time that no-confidence motion notices have been moved against the Modi government in 4 years.
Criticising the decision, the party also said it was a fight between forces 'rejecting democracy' and voices 'rescuing democracy'.
Chairman of the committee S S Ahluwalia has sought an extension.
Following the order, the Peace and Harmony Committee of the Delhi Assembly deferred its proceedings, and said it would notify the further course of action and the next date of sitting in due course of time.
The opposition parties will meet on Monday morning to evolve their strategy in both Houses of Parliament after protests by them on the Hindenburg-Adani issue overshadowed most of the first half of the Budget session.
The lower house has been witnessing daily disruptions since the winter session began last week. It had passed a bill on transgender rights on Monday.
Members in both Houses of Parliament on Wednesday demanded stringent action against Delhi Police and CRPF personnel for assaulting and detaining two Left MPs and several students protesting growing attacks on Northeastern people in Delhi last week.
"Articles 15(4) and 16(4) (dealing with provision for socially and educationally backward classes, and reservation) do not put any limit on the percentage of quota and there is no constitutional hurdle in increasing the same," Sharad Pawar said.
Accusing the Congress of creating obstacles in the path of growth and economy, he declared that the government would try to get the bill passed with the help of parties
APCC president Ripun Bora said following discussions with various parties, it has been decided that the Congress will join hands with the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), the Communist Party of India, the Communist Party of India-Marxist, Communist Party of India-Marxist Leninist and the Anchalik Gana Morcha.
AAP organisational general secretary Sandeep Pathak cited the performance of the party in recent local bodies polls in MP and said it will form the next government.
Alternatively, the government may go in for a five-day session to blunt criticism that it was running away from debates.
Kirti Azad, a known detractor of Jaitley, egged on the Congress to seek a time-bound SIT probe.
The contribution of nominated members to the proceedings of the Rajya Sabha has been anything but pathetic. Only time will tell if Sachin Tendulkar will prove an exception after his retirement? Anita Katyal reports
