'The role of Parliament is to hold the government of the day, whichever party is in power, accountable for its actions, policies.' 'The amount we are wasting on Parliament is a very miniscule amount. But the cost of delay in policy-making is huge and that affects the entire nation.'
Prasad also attacked the previous United Progressive Alliance government for letting the women's reservation bill, introduced by it, lapse.
The government on Wednesday reached out to opposition Janata Dal-United as continued disruptions in Parliament blocked passage of the United Progressive Alliance's 'game changer' Food Security Bill that aims to provide foodgrains at cheap rates to 67 per cent of the population.
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.
Enthused by the consensus in reaching four-tiered GST tax structure, particularly the unanimity achieved with Congress-ruled states, senior government sources were confident that the Central GST and Integrated GST Bills will be passed by both the Houses.
The Congress is strongly opposed to the three Central legislations which were signed into laws by President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday.
During the 16th Lok Sabha, 180 bills were passed and 45 ordinances promulgated.
The no-confidence motion moved by the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party against the Congress government in Chhattisgarh where assembly polls are due next year, was defeated by voice vote in the state Legislative Assembly on Thursday.
If the government does not allow the Opposition a few victories, then it is opening the door to paralysis and an entrenched culture of confrontation.
The Food Security Bill, which could not be taken up despite being listed in the Lok Sabha'a agenda since Monday, will not be part of business on Saturday.
Vociferous protests by Opposition members led by the Congress continued in the Lok Sabha.
The government will "play by the rule book" and make sure that absolute standards of probity are maintained, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said as the Opposition continued its attack over the Lalit Modi controversy.
With several Parliament sessions during UPA-II being largely disrupted, BJP leader Arun Jaitley on Sunday "regretted" that a lot of valuable time was lost in the last five years due to "confrontationist politics" and said the Opposition achieves much more through debates than disturbances.
Dubey demanded the removal of Tharoor, alleging that he was using his position in a discriminatory manner.
The Congress on Wednesday dismissed as "totally baseless" and "mischievous" reports that it had offered a deal to government under which it was ready to support passage of GST bill in Parliament if it axed External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje in the wake of the Lalitgate controversy.
Exasperated by continued protests, a peeved Lok Sabha speaker on Friday directed her officials to note down the names of Congress members crowding the well.
Narendra Modi government's reform agenda is under threat of washout.
Bracing for the opposition onslaught in Parliament, government and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday decided to aggressively counter the attack on its leaders like Sushma Swaraj, Vasundhara Raje and Shivraj Singh Chouhan and rake up controversies related to Congress leaders.
Calling for a trust vote merely on the ground of differences between MLAs of a ruling party can topple an elected government, the Supreme Court observed on Wednesday, adding that the governor of a state cannot lend his office to effectuate a particular result.
Both Houses of Parliament witnessed multiple adjournments on Monday as opposition MPs continued their protest over the Pegasus snooping row and other matters. Amid ruckus by the Opposition, the Rajya Sabha passed the Inland Vessels Bill-2021 while the Lok Sabha passed the General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Amendment Bill with voice-vote.
Opposition parties on Tuesday asked the government to call an all-party meeting to resolve the current impasse in Parliament, while sticking to their demands for a discussion on Pegasus snooping issue and a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the matter.
Countering the Opposition charge of curtailing the Question Hour, the sources in the government said this is not the first time that the Question Hour will not be taken up during a session as it was dispensed with in 2004 and 2009, besides also in 1991 as well as in 1962, 1975 and 1976 for various reasons.
Both Houses adjourned till Wednesday amid din.
The prime minister also underlined the belief of many Hindus that cow is like mother, but said that this should not let people take law in their own hands and every state government should act against violation of the law.
The government's move to issue an ordinance to implement the Food Security Bill saw major opposition parties stepping up their attack on the United Progressive Alliance accusing it of bypassing Parliament and acting in a hurry with an eye on polls.
Congress is riven by four different approaches to an issue: the Sonia Gandhi way, the Rahul Gandhi method, Lok Sabha MPs' tactic, and Rajya Sabha MPs' style, reports R Rajagopalan.
The video, which has been compiled using clips from RSTV, comprises statements made by the opposition MPs in the Upper House, with the words "farmer" and "Pegasus" in the opening lines.
'A country cannot be run on lines that everyone should be in agreement and those who disagree should be silenced.' 'If this is how they look at democracy, then I can only wish good luck to the future of parliamentary democracy in India.'
The S&P BSE Sensex slipped 305 points to end at 25,400 and the Nifty50 dropped 87 points at 7,783.
Upping the ante ahead of Monday's all-party meeting convened by the government, Congress on Saturday insisted that the issue of action against three top Bharatiya Janata Party leaders should be on the agenda if the deadlock in Parliament is to be broken.
CBI on Monday started a preliminary enquiry to probe the mysterious death of Madhya Pradesh Governor Ram Naresh Yadav's son Shailesh whose name had figured in the multi-crore rupee MPPEB scam, also known as Vyapam.
Among all Joshi's other portfolios -- he is also minister for coal and mines -- it is parliamentary affairs that is politically the most crucial. But to make a success of his job, he may have to hone his people skills a bit more, reports Aditi Phadnis.
Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav behaved entirely in character when he broke ranks with the Congress and backed the Bharatiya Janata Party in the monsoon session, says Aditi Phadnis
Government on Friday hit out at Congress, saying the term "Hindu terrorism" coined by its previous government had "weakened" the fight against the scourge by diverting the direction of probe into the incidents of terrorism.
Catch all the action from the Monsoon session of Parliament, LIVE
The decision to disrupt the House would be taken on a day to day basis, says Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad
"I rise in deep anguish to place on record the way this august House is being subjected to sacrilege and that too propelled by a sense of competition among some sections of the House since the commencement of this monsoon session," the Rajya Sabha chairman said.
In a strong show of support for Arun Jaitley, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the finance minister will come through "with flying colours" against charges of corruption levelled against him by the opposition in the same way L K Advani did in the Hawala case.
Jaitley said the Congress may be upset with the government for 'political reasons'
Congress MP Shashi Tharor, who recently faced Sonia Gandhi's ire, was on Monday seen in Lok Sabha engrossed in an animated discussion with Rahul Gandhi who was playing an active role in guiding his party's protesting members in the House which saw some business despite the din.
