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Owing to the disruption caused, Lok Sabha has been adjourned till 5 March at 11 am. Following similar protests in the Upper House, Rajya Sabha has been adjourned till 2.30 pm on Friday. The Parliament on Friday will hold the
last session in the first leg
of the Budget Session. Following a recess after the first leg, between 29 January and 9 February, the Parliament will meet again from 5 March to 6 April. It was a stormy day in both the Houses on Thursday with Telugu Desam Party (TPD), YSR Congress MPs protesting in the Lok Sabha over budgetary allocation to Andhra Pradesh. Rajya Sabha was adjourned several times during the day as members from both the ruling party and Opposition sought to disrupt the House. The Congress in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday
raised questions about key budgetary proposals
like for the proposed health insurance scheme and setting MSP at 50 percent above the cost, terming them as “jumlas” and also claimed the Centre was exaggerating data related to job creation. [caption id=“attachment_4277349” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]
Representational image. PTI[/caption] The Upper House which decided to sit till late to debate the Union budget also saw repeated adjournments post 7 pm following heated arguments between treasury benches and Opposition, and protests by TDP members. Congress president Rahul Gandhi also continued his attack on the government
over the Rafale aircraft deal
and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not answering his questions because there was something “fishy” about it. Referring to Modi’s speeches in Parliament on Wednesday, he told reporters it was clear that the prime minister was not interested in answering “fundamental questions”. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, he said, had first announced that she would inform the nation about the cost of purchasing Rafale aircraft but was now saying she could not do so as it was a state secret. “Which of her two statements is correct,” he asked. Later in a tweet, Gandhi wondered why she had “changed” her stand. Was it to hide corruption or was it a bid to protect the prime minister or “Modiji’s friend”, he asked. Sitharaman told Parliament on Monday that the details of the deal with France for the Rafale fighter jets cannot be disclosed as per the inter-governmental agreement as it is “classified information”. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also hit back at the Congress over the Rafale deal, accusing it of
“seriously compromising” the country’s security
by seeking details of armaments purchased along with the aircraft. He also advised Congress chief Rahul Gandhi to “learn” from former defence minister Pranab Mukherjee “lessons on national security.” “Your party was stigmatised when you were in government because of allegations of corruption. Now the new act is, let us manufacture an allegation of corruption against the NDA. So when you couldn’t find anything, you said please disclose the price of the Rafale deal,” Jaitley said while replying to the debate on the budget. “I charge the Congress of seriously compromising India’s security…Mr Modi has run a clean government for last 4 years, so let us manufacturer a crisis, let us manufacture an issue…And the manufactured issue is, please tell me the details of the Rafale deal,” the finance minister said in the Lok Sabha referring to the demands by the Congress to make public details of the government-to-government deal to buy 36 Rafale fighter jets from France. Earlier, replying to Congress charges over Rafale during the Budget debate, Jaitley had said the Congress was trying to manufacture a scam in Rafale fighter jet purchase because it had not been able to find any corruption case in the Narendra Modi government’s tenure so far. He also quoted a number of written replies in Parliament by ministers from the then UPA governments including Pranab Mukherjee and AK Antony, wherein they had refused to quote the price in defence deals citing security concerns. “Break-up of cost will tell what weapon systems are there in the deal. These security pacts are inherent part of these defence contracts,” he said. “They’re compromising national security by asking for details which should not be made public, by which I mean known to the enemy,” Jaitley added. With inputs from agencies
Budget Session updates: Constant disruptions in Lok Sabha force Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to adjourn House till 5 March
Following a recess after the first leg, between 29 January and 9 February, the Parliament will meet again from 5 March to 6 April in the Budget Session.
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Odisha MP AV Swamy falls down in Parliament, taken to hospital
MPs create ruckus in Lok Sabha over Rafale deal
Even as Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan attempted to continue with legislative business for the day, Congress MPs could be heard shouting slogans over the Rafale deal. demanding answers from Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha resume session amid loud protests
Lok Sabha speaker Sumitra Mahajan continued with legislative business even as TDP MPs gathered around the Well with placards in hand demanding a special package for Andhra Pradesh. Protests can also be heard in the Rajya Sabha.
‘I don’t want these scenes to be viewed by entire country’; Rajya Sabha adjourned till 12 pm
Rajya Sabha chair M Venkaiah Naidu says: “I don’t want these scenes to be viewed by the entire country. I can’t do anything if this becomes competitive politics.”
In protest TMC leader Derek O’Brien said that the Opposition wants to discuss the Budget and should be given the opportunity to do so.
‘Rahul Gandhi’s style of politics is undemocratic’
Hitting out at Congress president Rahul Gandhi over the Rafale deal, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said : “Amit Shah ji said Rahul ji’s style of politics is undemocratic. Hence, such kind of disruption during Prime Minister Modi’s speech.” BJP president reportedly said this during the BJP Parliamentary meet that took place on Friday morning.
YSR Congress MPs protest outside Parliament
Rahul Gandhi gives notice in Lok Sabha over Rafale deal
TDP MPs protest inside Parliament complex over special package for Andhra Pradesh
Congress MP moves privilege notice against Kiren Rijiju over his Facebook post
Jaitley says govt sympathetic to issues of Andhra people
Jaitley says the government is extremely sympathetic to issues of the people of Andhra Pradesh amid ruckus in the House.
Ruckus begins in Parliament
Ruckus begins in the Parliament as Sumitra Mahajan requests members to let Jaitley finish. Jaitley says,“They must learn to listen if they have questions.”
We have been able to stabilise GST, says Jaitley
Within a matter of months, we have been able to stabilise GST; we reduced rate with increase in revenue.
How can same tax slab be implemented on a luxurious item & a necessity, asks Jaitley
In every Budget, I tried to give middle-class relief
India’s growth was 7.1 % before demonetisation and now the GDP fallen. This is also the impact of GST. On Budget, Jaitley says in every Budget he has tried to give relief to the middle class.
You prepared incomplete draft Aadhaar law; BJP improvised it to make it usable: Jaitley to Congress
Arun Jaitley, responding to the discussion on the Union Budget, said “You (Congress) have been talking about Aadhaar but all you could achieve was formulate how such an ID would be created. You were not able to pass a law, you had no vision whatsoever to use it in the way we have, Your draft law was silent on privacy, whereas we have a full chapter on citizens’ privacy and the iron balls around Aadhaar,” Jaitley argued.
Jaitley cites unprecedented ‘structural reforms’ to defend Budget 2018
‘Data speaks for itself,’ Arun Jaitley’s response to Chidambaram’s 12 questions on economy
“The narratives which we had inherited & the narrative which we have now is entirely different. Nobody at that time mentioned that India is the fastest growing economy. It has only happened now. Data speaks for itself,” Jaitley said.
BJP defends Budget 2018 behind shield of Congress era scams
BJP MP Ganesh Singh defended the budget and said the Congress and its president Rahul Gandhi should reply to the issues raised by the prime minister on Wednesday. “You are asking about the Rafale deal but who will reply on Bofors and the submarine scam. “There have been many misdeeds during the Congress rule and the prime minister is trying to taking the country on the path of the development. People of the country are looking towards the prime minister,” Singh said.
His party colleague Abhishek Singh asked the Congress to refrain from insulting those selling pakoras or else they will be reduced to just five seats in Lok Sabha.
In Rajya Sabha, BJP’s Bhupender Yadav raised the Aircel-Maxis scam to counter Chidambaram’s questions on the economy.
Budget did not address key issues like farmers plight: TMC’s Dinesh Trivedi
TMC MP Dinesh Trivedi on Thursday criticised the Union Budget calling it a “jumla” (rhetoric) and alleged that several issues like the plight of farmers, better health services and education are yet to be addressed. Disapproving of remarks by Prime Minister Narendra Modi against his predecessors Rajiv Gandhi and Indira Gandhi in the Lok Sabha while replying to the debate on presidential address on Wednesday, Trivedi said there could be a difference of opinion but there should not be biases.
Chaos in Rajya Sabha as debate on Union budget rages on
On one hand, TDP MPs stormed the Well in Rajya Sabha seeking special package for Andhra Pradesh, on the other hand, BJP members continued there sloganeering against the Congress party seeking their apology.
‘Look in the mirror before complaining about us,’ Bhupender Yadav tells Chidambaram
Yadav said that the former finance minister was heard complaining about the fiscal deficits in the BJP’s regime. Quoting a poetic verse, Yadav said that Chidambaram should look in the mirror and pay some attention to the fiscal deficit figures of his government before complaining about ours.
BJP’s Bhupender Yadav rakes up Aircel-Maxis case in response to Chidambaram’s 12 questions on economy
Quoting a report published in The Pioneer , Yadav said that Chidamabaram should have answered the allegations against him instead of questioning the government. He said that the Congress was an opportunist party which feasted on Hindu and Muslim vote bank when it suited its political goals.
P Chidambaram poses 12 questions to Modi govt on state of economy
‘Where have all the jobs gone?,’ P Chidambaram answers
Mocking the government’s economic policies, Chidambaram said that we are the only country that claims that the jobs have gone down but the GDP has gone up.
“Where have all the jobs gone? what is this mystery? I will tell you,” Chidambaram said as he read out a data about a slew of vacancies across government departments.
Will Keep Laughing, No GST On it: Renuka Chowdhury on PM Modi’s ‘Ramayana Jibe’
Hitting out at the PM outside Parliament, Chowdhury said, “My party is with me. I will continue to laugh as there is no GST on laughter.”
On Tuesday, during the reply, Modi had questioned the Congress’s claim of being the originator of the biometric national ID Aadhaar when he said that the then home minister LK Advani had in 1998 spoken about an all-purpose national ID in Rajya Sabha. This led to Chowdhury bursting into loud laughter.
Read the full report hereBJP MPs drown out Chidambara’s voice but proceedings continue amid chaos
Chidambaram started speaking, using the economic growth metric’s used in the prime minister’s speech as a takeoff point, his voice barely audible on television over slogans of “Pradhan mantri ka apman nahi sahega Hindustan” and “Congress Valo Maafi mango Maafi mango.”
Meanwhile, from whatever we could make out of the former finance minister’s speech, he asked 12 questions related to the state of the economy as he claimed that the real GDP of the country, in various sectors, has not changed since 2014. The real GDP values are adjusted for inflation, while the nominal GDP figures are not.
Opposition, Treasury benches spar in Upper House; BJP members create ruckus during Chidambaram’s speech
The ruckus in Rajya Sabha continued even after the House was reconvened. The BJP leaders were seen protesting and raising slogans in the time allotted to P Chidambaram to speak.
At this, the Chair requested the MPs to restore order to the House. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar stood up and said that the members’ are agitated and will continue to register there grievances, but this should not deter the former finance minister and Congress member from speaking. He said that after all the prime minister’s speech was disrupted all through on Wednesday.
‘Parliamentary Affairs Minister is leading the disruption of Rajya Sabha’: Congress
Congress MP Anand Sharma said, “It is unprecendented in the history of Parliament that the Parliamentary Affairs Minister is leading the disruption of the Rajya Sabha. He is not the right person to tell us we are not supporting democracy. We cannot be bullied.”