The Opposition intensified its noisy protests in Lok Sabha on Wednesday over Pegasus snooping, farm laws and other issues with some unruly members even hurling papers and torn placards in the House, but the government went ahead with its legislative agenda and three bills were passed amid the din.
As yet another day of Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned due to vociferous protests, Joshi, the Union parliamentary affairs minister, urged the protesting members to allow the House to function while speaking during the Question Hour.
Both houses of Parliament were adjourned for the day on Friday after an uproar over the violence in Manipur.
Blaming Congress for delaying Goods and Services Tax, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday attacked the main opposition party alleging the "hawalabaaz are unnerved" due to the tough stance of the government on black money and are putting "roadblocks" in the reforms agenda.
With an aim of ensuring a smooth monsoon sSession of the Parliament beginning on August 8, an all-party meeting has been called by Speaker Meira Kumar on August 6.
Even existing cases might come under the proposed law, including those of Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choski. But, the law would not cover earlier cases.
The new Parliament building, whose foundation was laid in December 2020 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is being constructed in its vicinity and the work is expected to be completed before the Winter Session.
The opposition parties had till now been calling for a debate under Rule 267, which entails voting, and a statement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Upper House, which has seen continuous protests by the Opposition since the Monsoon session started on July 19 to press for discussions on Peagasus and farm laws, was adjourned thrice before the Chair finally adjourned it for the day.
The Congress on Monday described as a "blot on democracy" the suspension of its four MPs for the rest of the monsoon session for disrupting proceedings in the Lok Sabha, alleging the government was trying to "intimidate" the party but it would not be cowed down.
The monsoon session of Parliament which saw many disruptions since it began on July 20 over the Manipur violence issue, is set to become more turbulent with the government likely to introduce a bill in the Lok Sabha to replace the Delhi services ordinance.
18 leaders from 14 parties said it is unfortunate that the government has 'unleashed a misleading campaign to malign the combined opposition' and blaming it for the continued disruption of Parliament proceedings.
Opposition members, including from the Congress and the TMC, started raising slogans and showing placards to attack the government on the snooping issue as soon as the House met for the day at 11 am.
Terming the ordinance promulgated by the Union cabinet to implement the Food Security Bill as a "cruel joke" on democracy, Bharatiya Janat Party President Rajnath Singh said that his party would not oppose the passage of the bill in Parliament but seek amendments to it.
Rane claimed he had the support of at least 52 Sena MLAs, while only 9 turned up for a meeting called by him.
The proceedings of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were adjourned for the day on Tuesday amid continuous protests by opposition members over the Pegasus snooping row and farm laws, as they demanded that discussions be taken up on the issues in the House.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday said M Venkaiah Naidu's witty one-liners were 'revered, and never countered', and hailed his highly productive five-year term as vice president of India and Rajya Sabha chairman.
Amid continuous disruptions by Opposition members, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan has convened an all-party meeting on Thursday to discuss better functioning of the Lok Sabha, proceedings of which have been virtually washed out in the monsoon session so far.
The standoff between the government and the opposition in Parliament has showed no signs of easing after it erupted on the opening day of the Monsoon session on July 19.
After a virtual meeting of the Opposition parties, where they stressed on unitedly moving forward to defeat the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the leaders also put out an 11-point charter of demands before the government.
Proceedings in Rajya Sabha were repeatedly disrupted on Monday before being called off for the day as opposition members protested on the alleged phone-tapping and other issues and demanded discussions on them in the House.
The parliamentary panel on information technology will question government officials on allegations relating to suspected phone tapping of politicians, journalists and others using Pegasus spyware, the committee chairman and senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said on Tuesday, and asserted that it is the "most important issue" for many members.
Parliament proceedings were adjourned for the day following disruptions by Opposition parties which raised slogans on the Pegasus snooping row and the farmers' issue by gathering in the Well of the House.
"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,
As vice president and ex-officio chairman of the Rajya Sabha, Jagdeep Dhankar is inheriting a troubled legacy. Although the government faces no real numerical challenges in the Upper House, political and legal challenges are there aplenty.
Tendulkar, who was nominated as a Rajya Sabha member in April last year along with Bollywood actor Rekha and businesswoman Anu Aga, shook hands with some MPs before taking his seat.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and other Opposition leaders presided over a meeting to discuss strategy for the remaining period of Parliament
The Speaker of Lok Sabha in a two-page letter said that people had great expectations from MPs and had reposed their faith in them.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday urged top opposition leaders to rise above political compulsions to take on the BJP in the interest of the nation and start planning "systematically" to realise the "ultimate goal" of winning the 2024 Lok Sabha polls
The demand was made by the Nationalist Congress Party, the Trinamool Congress and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.
Catch all the action from the Monsoon session of Parliament, LIVE
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 main Opposition party is likely to lose some more of its strength in 2016-17
The government on Tuesday said it may reconvene Parliament's Monsoon Session to get key legislations, including the pending GST bill, passed, maintaining it has an "open mind" on amendments to reform measures even as it began consultations with leaders of opposition parties.
Soon after the obituary references and laying of papers, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs V Muraleedharan moved a motion for Shantanu Sen's suspension. The TMC member had snatched papers from Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and tore those in the House on Thursday. The motion was passed by a voice vote and Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu asked Sen to leave the House.
The government expects the rollout of 5G services to start from early October in the country, Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Saturday. "As soon as the spectrum auction ends, within a few days itself, we will allocate the spectrum. "We expect that the 5G roll-out will happen from the beginning of October and within a year or so, we should have a good rollout in the country," the Union Minister for Communications, Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw told reporters in New Delhi.
The government is ready for a debate in Parliament on price rise once Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recovers from Covid-19, the Bharatiya Janata Party asserted on Wednesday and targeted Rahul Gandhi, saying he may be "unproductive politically" but should not hurt the legislature's productivity.
Cracking the whip, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P J Kurien on Monday suspended two Telugu Desam Party members from Andhra Pradesh for a day for continuously disrupting the House by protesting against the decision to form Telangana.
He said the prime minister has received global recognition and India was rising under his leadership.
BJP members of the panel who were present in the meeting room didn't sign the attendance register in protest leading to a lack of quorum required for holding the meeting.
