Opposition members on Thursday created ruckus in the Lok Sabha over the suicide of a farmer in New Delhi on Wednesday, leading to adjournment of proceedings even as the government said it was ready to discuss the matter.
President Murmu reached the new Parliament building in a six-horse buggy accompanied by the Presidential Bodyguards riding horses.
The parliamentary committee scrutinizing the Waqf (Amendment) Bill has been granted an extension until the last day of the next Budget Session. This decision follows a heated meeting marked by a walkout from opposition members who expressed concerns about the committee's draft report. The committee will visit several states to meet stakeholders and finalize its report.
Several members had moved adjournment motions to raise the issue, but Speaker Meira Kumar said she has not accepted the demand.
Both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha committees had recommended that their suspension be withdrawn after they expressed regret for their conduct during the Winter session when their relentless protests prompted the Chairs to take action.
Sonia also described the mention of Emergency by the PM, the Lok Sabha Speaker as an attempt to divert attention from the "assault on the Constitution".
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Saturday rejected suggestions that the suspension of 13 opposition members was linked to their protests over the recent security breach and recalled that the House had displayed exemplary solidarity and collective resolve when breaches had happened in the past.
Birla informed the House that four persons have been arrested - two from inside the House, and two from outside Parliament in connection with the incident.
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey has written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla seeking initiation of breach of privilege proceedings against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for making "blatant lies and vilification campaign" during his speech in the House. Dubey alleged that Gandhi used his parliamentary privilege to spread canards without authenticating his charges and distorted historical facts during his speech. Gandhi had claimed that mobile phones were not made in India but only assembled here, China has captured the Indian territory, and India had sent Foreign Minister S Jaishankar to the US to get an invite for Prime Minister Narendra Modi for US President Donald Trump's swearing-in ceremony. He also made allegations related to the electoral rolls for the Maharashtra Assembly polls and the law for the appointment of the elections commissioner. Dubey accused Gandhi of misusing the Constitution's Article 105, which accords privileges to parliamentarians for their comments made inside the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. He urged the Speaker to initiate proceedings against Gandhi, alleging that Parliament's records and proceedings are a testimony to his irresponsible attitude.
The Delhi assembly witnessed unprecedented noise and cacophony on Friday as Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal made a fervent attempt to table the Jan Lokpal Bill.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla is expected to name the committee's chairperson soon.
Several opposition parties have claimed that the mandate of 2024 Lok Sabha elections was against the ruling haratiya Janata Party, even though it was able to form the government with support of other parties.
Five-term Lok Sabha Member of Parliament Meira Kumar on Tuesday became the consensus candidate of the ruling United Progressive Alliance and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party for the post of Lok Sabha Speaker. Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee led a UPA delegation to submit Kumar's nomination papers to Lok Sabha Secretary General P D T Achary for the election to the Speaker's post scheduled to be held on Wednesday. Kumar, 64, will be the first woman to head the LS.
The Delhi High Court has ordered Jammu and Kashmir MP Abdul Rashid Sheikh, alias Engineer Rashid, to deposit Rs 4 lakh with the prison authorities as travel expenses for attending Parliament. The court allowed Rashid to attend the ongoing Parliament session "in-custody" till April 4, but the NIA had raised concerns about him being a flight risk. Rashid has been lodged in Delhi's Tihar Jail since 2019 after the NIA arrested him in a 2017 terror-funding case.
Polling in Indore, where the Congress is out of race after its candidate withdrew his nomination, is scheduled on May 13.
According to sources, several opposition leaders are also considering boycotting the inaugural function on Sunday, alleging that the government has insulted the President.
Vociferous protests by Opposition members led by the Congress continued in the Lok Sabha.
'When Harivansh sits in the chair, you feel your voice will be heard.'
The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has urged Muslims to wear a black armband on their right hand during Juma prayers on the last Friday of Ramzan as a mark of protest against the Waqf (Amendment) Bill. The AIMPLB has been vocal in its opposition to the Bill, calling it "controversial, discriminatory and damaging." The organization has planned nationwide protests against the Bill, with large sit-ins scheduled in several cities.
In seniority in the BJP leadership team, V K Malhotra, who passed into the ages this week, was next only to Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L K Advani and Nanaji Deshmukh, notes Sudhir Bisht.
Ahead of the Winter session of Parliament beginning on December 4, the Congress' Lok Sabha leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Saturday wrote to Speaker Om Birla, saying the expulsion of Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra from Parliament is an 'extremely serious punishment and has very wide ramifications'.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has referred petitions submitted by the Trinamool Congress and the YSR Congress under the anti-defection law against their respective leaders Sisir Adhikari and K Raghu Rama Krishna Raju to the privileges committee.
A US military aircraft carrying 104 illegal Indian immigrants landed in Amritsar on Wednesday, the first such batch of Indians deported by the Donald Trump government as part of a crackdown against illegal immigrants.
Besides MPs, parliament staff and media personnel, among other entrants to the building, will also be required to undergo the test for the coronavirus.
A section of BJP leaders is of the view that the leadership may spring a surprise with its choice for the post by appointing someone from southern India.
The increased numbers of the Opposition bloc would mean that their MPs are likely to head several more panels than the four that they did by the end of the term of the 17th Lok Sabha.
Members from parties, including National Democratic Alliance partner Telugu Desam Party, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Trinamool Congress, continued their protests on various issues.
A controversial bill which paves the way for the Polavaram project in Andhra Pradesh by merging some villages and mandals of Telangana with Seemandhra was approved in the Lok Sabha on Friday, amid stiff opposition from the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, the Biju Janata Dal and some other parties.
The Rs 3 crore project is expected to be completed within 15 months by Independence Day next year.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla urged MPs on Monday to follow the prescribed format while taking oath or affirmation and not add words as it lowered the dignity of the Constitution.
'Non-BJP state governments and their leaders, navigating today's political landscape, know well they have no clue what awaits around the corner.' 'The chances of charges pressed and oneself getting parked in custody play out on an uneven playing field,' points out Shyam G Menon.
Kodikunnil Suresh, the Opposition's pick for the Lok Sabha speaker who will go up against the Bharatiya Janata Party's Om Birla, is a Congress veteran, an eight-term MP and one whose election in 2009 was declared invalid by the Kerala high court before being restored by the Supreme Court.
The panel, headed by Congress MP Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka, had called Patkar to hear her views on the implementation and effectiveness of the land acquisition law enacted by Parliament when the Congress-led UPA government was in power in 2013.
The petition sought setting aside speaker's June 14 circular showing the name of Paras as leader of Jan Lokshakti Party in the Lok Sabha.
This is a major security breach, Congress MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla said.
The event was also attended by Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
Opposition alliance INDIA on Thursday boycotted a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) of the Rajya Sabha to protest Prime Minister Narendra Modi not making a statement on Manipur violence in Parliament, a senior leader said.
'You can still smell the smoke in the Lok Sabha.'
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said that the President should inaugurate the new Parliament building and not the prime minister.
Members in the Lok Sabha on Thursday expressed grave concern over hate crimes against Indians in the United States, with opposition parties questioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "silence" on the matter and the government saying it was being "viewed seriously".
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