parliament

The Week in Parliament

The Winter Session of Parliament commenced on December 1 and will continue until December 19. The Opposition MPs have decided to raise several matters, including concerns linked to the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, equality, income, the Red Fort blast, labour codes, Delhi pollution, foreign policy, etc. On the first day of the session, the Lok Sabha was adjourned twice due to heavy sloganeering by the Opposition over SIR and “vote chori” allegations.

The Week in Parliament

OPPOSITION MPs protested the Election Commission’s voter list revision in Bihar. Parliament began a debate on the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor, on August 4, following a week of disruption.In the Rajya Sabha, Bikashranjan Bhattacharyya from the CPI(M) criticised the Modi government for exploiting incidents like Pulwama and Pahalgam – both occurring before elections. He questioned whether such attacks happened or were made to happen and said measures like the surgical strike, demonetisation, and abrogation of Article 370 had failed to curb terrorism.

The Week in Parliament

SPEAKING on the Manipur Appropriation Bill 2025 in the Rajya Sabha, Bikas Ranjan Bhattacharyya asked what prompted the Manipur Budget to be placed in Parliament? We talk about being the ‘mother of democracy’, but democracy has been shattered when you find that the Indian Parliament has to take up the Appropriation Bill for Manipur. Our prime minister has given a new theory, that of ‘double-engine sarkar’. Are we going on reverse gear? Manipur was the first place where Netaji  Subhash Chandra Bose came with INA for India’s Independence and that was really a historical event.

The Week in Parliament

THE second part of Parliament's Budget Session began on March 10, with both Houses witnessing disruptions over the government's attempt to impose Hindi language.The Rajya Sabha took up a discussion on the Railway (Amendment) Bill, 2024. Speaking on this, V Sivadasan said that for enacting legislation for a particular sector, a thorough study is very important. What is the present condition of the Indian Railways? Basically, the Railway Ministry itself has derailed. Then, how will we overcome this situation? It is a very serious matter that 2,50,000 posts are lying vacant.

The Week in Parliament

THE Budget Session of Parliament began on January 31 with President Droupadi Murmu's address to a joint sitting of both the Houses. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget for 2025-26 on February 1. Overall, the budget was disappointing as people had high expectations from it. There is nothing in the budget for the general public. The expectation that the budget would strengthen the public sector and help generate more employment in the country has not materialised. There are no measures aimed at curbing price rise.

The Week in Parliament

 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 Week in Parliament

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.

Slow Claps for Hubris 3.0

The Lok Sabha results had raised hope of a new government that would be more federal and co-operative than what we have seen in the last 10 years. But the budget session is clear proof the Modi-Shah coterie has no such intentions. A united opposition that put up a spirited defence of democracy in parliament is heralding a new change.  FOR the BJP and the Modi-Shah coterie that controls it, the results of General Elections 2024 ought to have been a sobering one.

The Week in Parliament

THE 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. As many as 146 MPs from the opposition parties were suspended for demanding a discussion about the parliament security breach.

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