BOTH Houses of Parliament were adjourned sine die on December 20 amid protests by MPs of the Opposition bloc over Union Home Minister Amit Shah's remarks on B R Ambedkar and other issues. Before the Houses were adjourned, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Tuesday introduced the Constitution (129th Amendment) Bill, 2024 and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024 – the two Bills for the conduct of the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections simultaneously – in the Lok Sabha. The Bills saw intense debate in the House, with 269 members voting in its favour and 198 members opposed.

THE winter session of parliament witnessed a weeklong standoff between the opposition and the treasury benches over issues such as the indictment of the Adanis in the US in an alleged bribery case, the violence in Sambhal in Uttar Pradesh and Manipur, and the Centre’s denial of relief fund to those affected by landslides in Wayanad in Kerala. The standoff, which led to House proceedings being stalled, came to an end after the Opposition parties and the central government reached a consensus to take up a discussion on the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution.

Enable GingerCannot connect to Ginger Check your internet connectionor reload the browserDisable in this text fieldRephraseRephrase current sentenceTHE budget session of parliament concluded on February 10, with the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha being adjourned sine die. This was the last session of parliament before the Lok Sabha elections, due in April-May. This was a Lok Sabha of many dubious firsts: in terms of the number of workdays, this was the least productive Lok Sabha since 1952. No deputy speaker was appointed during its entire five-year tenure.

THE winter session of parliament began on December 4 and is scheduled to conclude on December 22 after 15 sittings.The Rajya Sabha passed the Post Office Bill, 2023, to replace the Indian Post Office Act of 1898, on the first day of the session. CPI(M) member A A Rahim raised specific objections to the bill. His first point was that this bill was against the Constitution and breached the fundamental rights provided by the Constitution. Secondly, this bill was against the federal principles. Thirdly, through this bill, the government is giving up the liabilities invested upon it.

THE monsoon session of parliament was stormy, with opposition protests demanding a statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding the ethnic violence in Manipur. These protests have reverberated through both houses since the commencement of the monsoon session on July 20.Bikas Ranjan Bhattacharyya participated in the Rajya Sabha discussion on the National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023. He highlighted that humanity is characterised by rationality, setting us apart as rational animals.