Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Tuesday sought to give credit to his party for the women's reservation bill but Home Minister Amit Shah refuted his claim, saying that the legislation brought by the Manmohan Singh government had lapsed following the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha.
'I don't know why they should feel scared. They have a big majority, they shouldn't feel scared.' 'They should let us speak and then they can always vote however they want to. I have no idea (what's scaring the government).' 'It actually baffles me why they should indulge in these kinds of tactics.'
Modi said the new Parliament reflected the aspirations and resolve of the "new India" to set and work towards achieving new targets.
Swamy had been instructed by the deputy speaker of the Rajya Sabha that if he failed to do so, his remarks during the Agusta debate would be struck off.
Most of the members, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, were seen wearing face masks. However, members had crowded the Lok Sabha chamber, while hardly a handful of others, including union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Piyush Goyal, were seen seated in the Rajya Sabha chamber.
Parliament has passed a bill to extend the tenure of the director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to a maximum of five years from the present two years.
Both Houses of Parliament were adjourned on Thursday without any business in respect to two sitting and six former members who died recently.
The bills were passed by voice vote.
In a surprise move, the Samajwadi Party on Wednesday decided to field Jaya Bachchan in the biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha. "The SP parliamentary board has decided to re-nominate its outgoing Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament Jaya Bachchan in the elections slated for June 10," party spokesman Rajendra Chaudhry said. The party has also decided to field former union minister Rashid Masood for Rajya Sabha, he said.
The Upper House was earlier adjourned twice in the afternoon session when it took up the discussion on the Budget after Prime Minister Narendra Modi finished his speech on the motion of thanks on the President's address and the motion was passed.
Parliament on Wednesday stood as one in condemning the killing of 141 persons, including 132 children, by terrorists in a school in Peshawar in Pakistan.
Scindia, who is now with the BJP and took oath as a member from Madhya Pradesh, greeted his bete noire before taking oath. Scindia and Singh had differences that led to Scindia quitting the Congress. Scindia also greeted Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Ghulam Nabi Azad.
Quality of food served in Parliament canteen on Wednesday came under attack in Rajya Sabha as a member drew attention of the government towards MPs falling sick after consuming it.
Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge wondered whether the people from South India were not Indian citizens.
He drew the roadmap of India's economic reform, unshackled it from the licence raj and pulled it back from the brink when even its gold reserve was pledged.
"It seems some people cannot digest that more women, SC, ST and OBC community members are becoming ministers", Modi said, and noted that several new ministers are children of farmers and also belong to OBC communities,
With authorities not granting permission for a tent, five MPs slept under the sky as a protest against the suspension of 24 MPs, 20 from Rajya Sabha and four Congress members from Lok Sabha.
Madhya Pradesh government has issued a notification for providing 35 per cent reservation in recruitment to women, barring the Forest department in the state.
Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and some other MPs suspended from Parliament will not be able to attend the meetings of parliamentary committees of which they are a member or chairperson till their suspension is revoked.
Both the Houses observed a two-minute silence in memory of the former prime minister
The first session of 17th Lok Sabha will commence on Monday, which will see the passing of the Union Budget and some key legislations like triple talaq bill being on top of the government agenda.
What India needs more than one simultaneous election is better governance both at the central and state level. Yes, we need reforms, but our priority should be to make elections less expensive, make it more democratic, do away with freebies which are actually bribes before elections, allow only those who are educated to contest, and bring in a bill to make it impossible for criminals to contest, advocates Ramesh Menon.
Any direction or rule of the House cannot subvert the constitutional guarantee of freedom of speech granted to members of Parliament, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said, asserting that any criticism of the government and its policies can never be equated with the "dignity" of the Council of States.
For the second successive day, the Opposition disrupted proceedings in Parliament over the government's new sugarcane price policy.
Pandemonium over Telangana and some other issues paralysed Parliament for the fourth working day on Monday as members created uproar leading to repeated adjournments of both the Houses.
In the all-party meeting on Tuesday, Opposition parties demanded discussions on price rise, unemployment and Economically Weaker Section (EWS) quota among other issues, sources said.
BJP president JP Nadda said on Sunday that the party does not seek to control the Waqf Board but wants to ensure that those managing it operate within the bounds of law and adhere to established rules. He said the properties and funds of the Waqf Board should be dedicated to promoting education, providing healthcare and employment opportunities for the Muslim community. Nadda also highlighted the BJP's growth and achievements, emphasizing its commitment to national unity and cultural heritage.
Will Parliament function? Catch all the debates and discussions from the Upper and Lower House.
Kharge was elected Congress president, defeating Shashi Tharoor in an electoral contest, the sixth in the party's 137-year-old history.
Six of the seven Bills listed on the agenda of the Rajya Sabha have already been passed by the Lok Sabha.
'The government or the ruling party has indicated indirectly that you are not supposed to publish anything critical of the government or the senior functionaries of the government.'
The second leg of the budget session is of 23 days and all 14 days so far have been wasted.
Opposition members on Friday forced adjournment of Parliament till noon by demanding resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in connection with alleged scam in allocation of coal blocks.
Singh noted that opposition members tore rule book, threw papers at the desk of the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh, who was in the Chair, and climbed the officials' table -- something, he added, he had never witnessed before.
Parliament is being dressed up ahead of Barack Obama's address to the members of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha in the Central Hall on November 8.
The former finance minister, who walked out of jail on Wednesday night, joined other Congress MPs voicing their protest against the steep hike in onion prices.
The Parliament on Tuesday passed the much talked about Bill to hike the salaries of Members of Parliament by over three times from Rs 16,000 to Rs 50,000 and doubling two of their key allowances to Rs 40,000 each, with the Rajya Sabha approving the measure. The Salary, Allowance and Pension of Members of Parliament (Amendment) Bill, 2010, has already been passed by the Lok Sabha.
Jailed Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad and Janata Dal-United leader Jagdish Sharma have been disqualified as Lok Sabha members following their conviction in the fodder scam.
The seat got vacant after the death of Bharatiya Janata Party's Rajya Sabha MP Madan Lal Saini in June. Rajasthan has 10 Rajya Sabha seats.
The suspended Rajya Sabha parliamentarians, who spent the night on the lawns near Mahatma Gandhi's statue in what several old-timers said was the first such overnight protest in the complex, got a surprise visitor in the morning -- Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh who came with tea and snacks.
