 "Is Shashi Tharoor’s breakup with Congress inevitable?")
 "‘Naxalism will end in India by March 2026’: Amit Shah at CRPF Raising Day parade")
In his Rajya Sabha debut, BJP president Amit Shah hit back at Congress’ “Gabbar Singh Tax” barb and said that tax collected is used to fund pension, development schemes. The
Budget
Session of the Parliament is set to resume on Monday after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley tabled the Union Budget 2018-19 on 1 February, the Narendra Modi’s government’s last full Budget before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The first leg of the session will be held between 29 January and 9 February. Following a recess after 9 February, the Parliament will convene again between 5 March and 6 April. Some of the issues likely to find limelight on Monday in both Houses are listed here: TDP-BJP alliance Upset over “injustice” to Andhra Pradesh in Union Budget 2018-19, the TDP, a key ally of the BJP, on Sunday decided to raise the issue in Parliament. Andhra Pradesh chief minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N Chandrababu Naidu asked his party MPs to pressurise the BJP-led NDA government to undo the injustice. [caption id=“attachment_4286517” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]
File image of the Parliament. PTI[/caption] At the TDP Parliamentary Board meeting in Amaravati on Sunday, Naidu said the party would begin its fight by raising the issue in Parliament, sources revealed. He made it clear that this was only the first step. The TDP chief said the party’s next course of action would depend on the response of the Modi government. The Board discussed in detail the Union Budget and the Centre’s failure to address the pending issues of the state. Some TDP leaders suggested that both the central ministers of the TDP should quit to put pressure on the BJP. Naidu, however, said the party should first raise the issue in Parliament. TDP leader and Union Minister of State for Science and Technology Y Sujana Chowdhary told reporters MPs would try to put pressure on the Centre to honour all commitments made to the state at the time of its bifurcation from Andhra Pradesh in 2014. Judiciary crisis According to reports, the Congress and some Opposition parties have made it clear that they will press for discussion in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on the “crisis in judiciary” following the issues raised by four senior judges of the Supreme Court in an unprecedented press conference in January this year. The government on Friday made it clear in Parliament that it will
keep away from the tussle
between the Chief Justice of India and the four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court, saying the judiciary is capable of handling its “internal matters”. Responding to three separate questions in the Rajya Sabha on the “rift” in the higher judiciary, the government said it has not received any information about it from the Supreme Court. Minister of State for Law PP Chaudhary replied in a negative when asked whether the government has “assessed the impact of the rift” in the apex court. “Judiciary, being an independent organ under the Indian Constitution, is capable of handling its internal matters. The government is committed to the independence of judiciary,” he said in a written reply to one of the questions. Triple talaq bill According to reports, the Narendra Modi government has said it
hopes to get the controversial triple talaq bill
passed in the Rajya Sabha this Budget Session. The Lok Sabha had passed the bill seeking imprisonment for Muslim men convicted of practising instant triple talaq, but a united Opposition had stalled it in the Rajya Sabha, where the NDA lacks a majority. OBC bill Besides the triple talaq legislation, which criminalises instant talaq by Muslim men, the government is also likely to make a pitch for the passage of the OBC bill, which seeks to give a constitutional status to the OBC commission. The BJP hopes to consolidate its support among backward classes by according constitutional status to the OBC commission, which, it believes, will give it more teeth. Apart from the above issues, the Opposition has also protested the absence of bills for women’s reservation in Parliament and the quota for SC/ST. With inputs from agencies
Parliament updates: 'BJP govt 'name changer' not 'game changer',' Ghulam Nabi Azad's jibe in Rajya Sabha
The Budget Session of the Parliament is set to resume on Monday after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley tabled the Union Budget 2018-19 on 1 February
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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.”