The third session (Winter Session) of the 18th Lok Sabha is scheduled to begin on November 25. Earlier on Sunday, an all-party meeting was held under the chairmanship of Defense Minister Rajnath Singh. During this, a total of 42 leaders of 30 parties were present. Opposition leaders including the Congress have demanded a debate on the Adani case on the first day in the Lok Sabha.
A US New York federal court has accused Gautam Adani of offering bribes worth around Rs 2,200 crore to Indian officials to get solar power contracts. Rahul Gandhi has demanded a JPC in this matter.
Congress leader Pramod Tiwari said his party has also proposed a debate in Parliament on Manipur violence, pollution and rail accidents. However, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said – the business advisory committee will take a decision on the issues under discussion. The opposition should allow the proceedings of the House to proceed smoothly.
The winter session of Parliament will continue till December 20. There will be 19 meetings during this period. The government has prepared a list of 16 bills, including the Wakf Amendment Bill, for approval from Parliament. According to the Lok Sabha bulletin, there are 8 bills pending in the Lok Sabha and 2 in the Rajya Sabha.
Before the proceedings of the session begin, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla will administer oath to two new MPs who won by-elections to Kerala and Nanded seats.
A total of 16 bills will be introduced in the session, 11 will be debated, 5 will be presented for approval A total of 16 bills are to be introduced during the winter session of Parliament. 11 of these bills will be put up for discussion. When 5 will be put up for approval to become law. The set of bills proposed for One Nation One Elections is not yet part of the list, although some reports say the government may bring it into session.
At the same time, the Rajya Sabha bulletin said that an additional bill passed by the Lok Sabha, the Indian Aircraft Bill, is pending approval in the Rajya Sabha.
JPC members sought more time on Waqf Bill The Joint Committee on the Wakf Amendment Bill is expected to submit its report in Parliament on November 29, but only if it meets the deadline given in the monsoon session. The JPCA has to submit its report on the last day of the first week of the session. However, opposition members have sought extension of time for the panel to submit its report.
Regarding this, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju says that there is a provision to extend the tenure of the JPC, but there has been no discussion on it yet. This should be discussed in the business advisory committee.
JPC has held 25 meetings since August 22. It has taken suggestions from 123 stakeholders, including 6 Ministries, 8 Waqf Boards and 4 Minority Commissions.
The Wakf Act, 1995 was enacted to regulate Wakf properties, but has been accused of corruption and encroachment. The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024 aims to reform, digitize, audit, bring transparency and create a legal mechanism to recover illegally acquired properties.
A program will be held at Old Parliament on Constitution Day On the second day of the session i.e. 26th November (Constitution Day), a special program will be held in the Central Hall (Old Parliament) of the Constituent Assembly on the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution. From September 19, 2023, the entire business of Parliament will be conducted from the new Parliament. The Constituent Assembly adopted the Constitution on November 26, 1949. The Constitution came into force on January 26, 1950.
A coin and postage stamp will be issued to mark the 75th anniversary. Besides this, copies of the Constitution in Sanskrit and Maithili will also be released. Apart from this, two books “Making of the Constitution: A Glimpse” and “Making of the Constitution and its Glorious Journey” will also be released.
Three members of the Gandhi family in Parliament for the first time
After Priyanka Gandhi's victory in Kerala's Wayanad Lok Sabha by-election, the Congress once again has 99 MPs in the Lok Sabha. The Wayanad seat was vacated by Rahul Gandhi, while the Nanded seat fell vacant due to the death of Congress MP Basantrao Chavan. By-elections have been held recently and both the seats have returned to the Congress.
This will be the first time that three members of the Gandhi family belonging to the Congress party will be members of Parliament together. Rahul Gandhi is the Lok Sabha MP from Rae Bareli and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is from Wayanad. While Sonia Gandhi is a Rajya Sabha MP from Rajasthan.
Now Know, 4 Key Points of Last Semester…
Of the 12 bills introduced in the monsoon session, only 4 were passed The first monsoon session of the 18th Lok Sabha ran from 22 July to 9 August. A total of 15 meetings were held in the entire session lasting approximately 115 hours. The productivity of the house during the session was 136%. In the same session, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the budget for 2024-2025 on July 23. The debate lasted for a total of 27 hours and 19 minutes, in which 181 members participated.
48.20 Lakh Crore Budget, benefiting Allies
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman created a record of presenting the budget for the seventh time in a row on July 23. In his 1 hour 23 minute speech, he focused on education, employment, farmers, women and youth. Apart from this, the central government was also kind to Bihar and Andhra Pradesh.
It was announced in the budget that those opting for the new tax regime would get Rs. Income tax exemption up to 7.75 lakhs will be given. Apart from this, the government announced a maximum of Rs 15,000 in three installments to first-time job seekers whose salary is less than Rs 1 lakh.
There was a controversy over the census of Agnivir and caste
There was a heated debate between BJP MP Anurag Thakur and opposition leader Rahul Gandhi in Parliament.
On July 30, there was a scuffle between BJP MPs Anurag Thakur, Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav over Agniveer and caste enumeration. Without taking Rahul Gandhi's name, Anurag Thakur said that you are tempted to speak. Politics cannot be run with borrowed intelligence.
Thakur said again – Nowadays some people are haunted by the ghost of caste census, those who do not know about caste, want to do caste census. The opposition started an uproar over this. Rahul Gandhi accused Anurag Thakur of misbehaving. He said- Anurag Thakur has abused me, insulted me, but I am not apologizing. Akhilesh said – How can one ask someone's caste?
Jaishankar said in the Parliament – Hindus were attacked in Bangladesh
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar made a statement on the situation in Bangladesh in both houses of Parliament on August 6. He said that people are on the streets in Bangladesh, Hindus are being targeted. This is a matter of concern.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
