Review of Parliament Proceedings

The Lok Sabha began a discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President for her address to Parliament, with the BJP asserting that President Droupadi Murmu's speech reflected the all-round development the country has seen under the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”   ”Initiating the debate on Friday, Heena Gavit of BJP took a swipe at the opposition by dubbing the INDIA bloc as a cricket team with 11 captains not willing to accommodate other players. She said INDIA bloc leaders were like 'Big Boss' participants who live under one roof but everyone eyes the trophy of becoming the prime minister.”     ”After moving the motion, she said under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the country is witnessing all-round development and hence, it will not be surprising that INDIA bloc leaders start switching sides one after the other.”     ”Describing TMC leader Mamata Banerjee as the captain of West Bengal, Gavit said she is unwilling to accommodate Congress in her team.”     ”Similarly, she said, Aam Aadmi Party convener Arvind Kejriwal is the captain of Punjab who is treating Congress as the 12th member of the team.” ””Gavit, who represents Nandurbar constituency of Maharashtra in Lok Sabha, said people will once again vote for Modi in the upcoming parliamentary elections and his government will present a full-fledged Union Budget in the coming days.” ””It was remarkable to note, she said, that a woman president addressed the joint sitting of the two Houses on 31st of January and the next day a woman finance minister presented an interim Budget. She said now she, a woman MP who represents a tribal area, was moving the motion to thank the president for her address.” ””The youth of today should not be a job seeker but a job creator and job giver. The government was working on that, she said.” ””Hitting out on the Congress, she said while on the one hand it attacks corporate leaders, on the other one of its Chief Ministers, signs an agreement with those very corporate leaders to ensure jobs for youth in their state. She was apparently referring to Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy.”This shows the dual character of Congress, she said.” ””'Viksit Bharat' is not the philosophy of a party but of the people of India, she added.” ””Union minister SPS Baghel said Congress governments kept spouting the slogan of 'garibi hatao' but did nothing to help the poor. It was under the Modi government that over 25 crore people were lifted out of poverty, he said.” ””Gourav Gogoi of Congress criticised the prime minister, saying he never replies to any question in Parliament. He behaves like a king who never answers a question Gogoi alleged, amid protests by some BJP members.” ””Speaker Om Birla asked him to speak on the President's address and said he was free to criticise policies.” ””Gogoi's criticism of the suspension of opposition MPs from Lok Sabha in the last session also drew the Speaker's disapproval who said a decision taken by the House cannot be questioned.” ””T R Baalu of DMK said Tamil Nadu is not being given its due share of money.” ””Kirit Solanki of BJP said India's global standing has gone up by several notches under the Modi government and cited the successful organisation of G20 summit in New Delhi. Modi has transformed people's dreams into reality.” ””Before the discussion began, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi demanded an apology from Congress leader Sonia Gandhi over her party's Lok Sabha member D K Suresh's comments advocating a separate nation comprising southern states over the Centre's alleged bias in budgetary allocations.” ””Raising the issue during the Zero Hour in Parliament, Joshi said Congress member Suresh had demanded a separate nation comprising southern states. The remarks were an insult to the Constitution and its architect Babasaheb Ambedkar, he said.” ””He said he condemns the statement of the Congress member and the demands that the matter be referred to the Ethics Committee of the Lok Sabha.” ””Members of the opposition INDIA bloc, including the Congress and the DMK, were on their feet trying to make some point as Joshi made the statement in the House. They later walked out.” ””Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla called the opposition members to make their point after laying of parliamentary papers on the table of the House.” ””Joshi said the Congress leadership should clarify whether it subscribed to the views of Suresh — the brother of Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar.” ””The Congress traditions on dividing the country still persists, he said, demanding that the Congress take action against the member and also clarify whether the party supports his views.” ””Joshi said he also hailed from a southern state as does his colleague External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, and neither of them feel in the manner as the Congress member has claimed.” ””Union minister SPS Baghel also targeted former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, accusing her of deceiving the country in the name of the poor.” ””Lauding the Modi government for banning triple talaq, he said it has empowered women and ensured them justice.” ””The BJP will return to power with over 400 seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, he said.” ””Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar of Trinamool Congress accused the Centre of discriminating against West Bengal in allocating financial resources. The Centre has worked against the interests of the common man, she said.” ””Supriya Sule of Nationalist Congress Party said the government is high on symbolism and low on substance. The government brought the women reservation bill but there is no deadline to its implementation, she said. Manipur has become a boiling pot, she said.” ””Things have improved in Jammu and Kashmir but problems remain there, she said.” ””Ramcharan Bohra of BJP said India has begun exporting defence materials due to the government's 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' initiative.”             ”The third day of the Budget session of the Rajya Sabha witnessed noisy scenes on the demand by a Congress leader for a separate country and Congress raising concern over the delay in the swearing-in of the newly elected Jharkhand Chief Minister after the resignation of Hemant Soren.” ””The demand by a Congress leader for a separate country led to a war of words between the Treasury benches and the opposition leading to a walkout by members of the Congress from the Upper House.” ””The House witnessed the Congress raising concern over the delay in the swearing-in of the new Jharkhand Chief Minister after the resignation of Hemant Soren.” ””The House also witnessed Initiation of a discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President's address to the joint session of Parliament.” ””Proceedings in the Upper House began with Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar offering birthday greetings to members Balbir Singh, Prem Chand Gupta and Naresh Bansal.” ””After the laying of papers, Leader of the House Piyush Goyal raised the issue of an alleged remark by Congress MP DK Suresh Kumar on demand for a separate country.” ””Terming the statement of the Congress Leader as a violation of the Constitution, Goyal demanded an apology from Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge.” ””Goyal said, 'Congress is indulging in separatist tactics. This shows their intention to divide the nation. Congress president should issue a clarification on the matter in the House, he said.” ””Responding to the allegation by the Leader of the House, Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge said that the remarks were made by a member of the Lok Sabha and that the matter can be taken up by the Privilege committee of the Lower House. He said that the Congress party always stands for a united India” ””’From Kanyakumari to Kashmir we are united. For India, Congress leaders Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi made sacrifices for the country. However, the Lok Sabha MP has said that made the statement. Hence, it should not be discussed, he said.” ””The issue led to noisy scenes followed by war of words between the Treasury benches and the Opposition.” ””Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said that he had said in an earlier ruling that a statement by a member of the Lok Sabha can be raised in the House by giving a notice to the Chair.” ””However, he said that it is a statement which goes against the Indian Constitution and cannot be countenanced.” ””Goyal said that Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge has not condemned D.K. Suresh’s statement, which shows that the Congress party is not entirely against his views.” ””The Chairman said that the Leader of the House should place on floor of the House a record of the statement by the Congress Leader for the attention of the Leader of Opposition.” ””Meanwhile, the Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, raised concerns over the delay in the swearing-in of the Jharkhand Chief Minister.” ””The Treasury benches said that it is a statement pertaining to the role of the Governor of the state. Later Congress members walked out of the House in protest on the issue.” ””During the Zero Hour, A D Singh of the RJD raised the issue of an urgent need for more pilot training institutions.” ””Rajiv Shukla of the Congress expressed concern on rising cases of suicides by students.” ””Nabam Rebia of the BJP called for creating a separate IAS/IPS Cadre for Arunachal.” ””During the Question Hour, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Anupriya Patel, responding to a query said that the Government is committed to ensuring the quality and safety of medicines.” ””After the Question Hour, Kavita Patidar of BJP introduced Motion of Thanks on the President’s address.” ””She said that the schemes and policies of the government have ensured the growth and progress of women in the country.” ””The Motion of Thanks to the President's address was seconded by Vivek Thakur of the BJP.  ” ””In his speech, Thakur said that the Indian economy was in a bad shape when the BJP came to power under the Prime ministership of Mr Narendra Modi.” ””'However through the efforts of the NDA over the last 9 years, India today is a bright spot in the world economy, 'he said.” ””He said that women participation in all walks of life has gone up during the rule of the NDA government.” ””Speaking on the Motion of Thanks to the President's address, Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge expressed concern over the rising unemployment in the country.” ””He said that the President's address does not talk about any measures to tackle the rising unemployment in the country.” ””He said that youth of the country are increasingly leaving for other countries in search of employment opportunities.” ””He said there are nearly 30 lakh vacancies in government institutions.” ””Mr Kharge said that hospitals like AIIMS face severe shortage of staff.” ””He expressed concern on the large scale of closure and disinvestment of public sector companies which have been monumental in the development of the country in the last 75 years.” ””He criticized the Agniveer scheme which provides for retaining only 25 per cent of those recruited.” ””He said that the President's address does not make any mention of the skyrocketing prices of essential commodities.” ””He said that the government promised doubling the farmers income but in reality the annual income of farmers has reduced by 1.5 per cent.” ””He also said that the government should carry out a caste census in the country, demand for which has been raised across the country.” ””Expressing concern on low percentage of women in labour force in the country, he said that the percentage of women in labour force should be increased to 50 per cent.” ””Questioning the delay in swearing-in of the newly elected Jharkhand Chief Minister, he said different standards apply to the BJP allies and the opposition. While Nitish Kumar was allowed to take swearing-in within 12 hours of his resignation, the swearing-in of the new Jharkhand Chief Minister has been delayed.”The discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President's address will continue on Monday.” ””After the speech by Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, the House took up The Private Members Business.” ””Speaking on the Private Members Bill, The Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2022(Amendment of Article 153 and substitution of articles 155 and Article 156), moved by V Sivadasan of the CPI-M to Minister of State Home Affairs Ajay Kumar that the Bill is against the federal structure of the Constitution.” ””He said that the bill seeks appointment of a state’s governor by the President after concurring with the Chief Minister. The bill further allows the governor to hold the post for five years only and can be removed from office by the President in concurrence with the CM.” ””Terming the amendments as ' unconstitutional', he said that a Governor must be apolitical and must not be answerable to the Chief Minister.” ””He said that the eight constitutional amendments passed by the Modi government were all aimed at social and economic welfare.” ””In contrast, the Congress had passed a constitutional amendment by declaring emergency in the nation just to save Indira Gandhi’s power.”He urged the member to withdraw his Bill.” ””Responding to the discussion, V Sivadasan of the CPI-M said that the argument that election of the Governor will lead to a parallel power structure is not valid.”He said that the state government should have a role in working of the appointees of all India services.” ””A cordial behaviour between a state government and the Governor is important.” ””He said that the Union government is utilizing the office of the Governor for its purpose. Therefore a state government should have the right to recall the Governor. He said that he was withdrawing the bill.” ””Thereafter, Sasmit Patra of the BJD moved Sal Leaves Collectors and Traders Welfare Bill 2022 for consideration of the House.” ””Speaking on the Bill, Sasmit Patra said that with the advent of plastics, Sal Leaves as a source of plates in weddings has gone into oblivion.” ””He said that he is coming with the bill to recognize the contribution of people collecting Sal Leaves.” ””He said that with the reintroduction of Sal Leaves we can bring back organic culture.” ””He said that the Bill envisages setting up of a Sal Leaves collectors and traders welfare fund from the Consolidated Fund of India wherein Sal Collectors will get pension of 5000 rupees, free Healthcare facilities and housing for Sal Leaves Collectors.” ””Speaking on the Bill, Tribal Affairs minister Arjun Munda said that while he respects the sentiments behind the bill, the government is taking several initiatives for the welfare of Sal Leaves Collectors and that it is not feasible to bring a separate Bill in this regard.”He urged the member to withdraw his Bill.” ””Responding to the Minister, Sasmit Patra said he was satisfied with the assurances that he would take measures for welfare of Sal Leaves Collectors and was withdrawing the bill.” ””Later the bill was withdrawn from the House.” ””Thereafter the Deputy Chairman called for taking up Special Mentions.” ””After Special Mentions, the Chair adjourned the House for the day.

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Review of Parliament Proceedings