The Monsoon Session of Parliament started on Monday, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking all MPs to work together for the betterment of the country by leaving behind all bitterness created by party lines. Taking a veiled dig at opposition parties, he said the “dignified platform” of Parliament was for the country and not for a party as decided by the vote of the people.
At the beginning of his speech, the prime minister wished everyone on account of the beginning of Sawan, or the Shravan month, dedicated to Hindu deity Shiva. He said the important session begins from the first Monday of Sawan.
“Today is the first Somvar of Sawan. An important session is starting from today. I wish all fellow Indians on the day of Sawan. The country is watching very closely that this session will be in a positive atmosphere and result oriented,” he said, adding that the Union Budget, which will be presented by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday (July 23), will be an “important budget of Amrit Kaal”.
The united opposition is set to corner the NDA government on issues ranging from the NEET paper leak case and the row over the Kanwar Yatra directives in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The Monsoon Session, under the Narendra Modi-led NDA government that came to power for the third consecutive time, will have 19 sittings till August 12.
Here are the latest updates:
- In his speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said it is a moment of pride that after 60 years, a government has come to power for a third consecutive term. He said the Union budget, which will be presented on Tuesday (July 23), is an “important budget of Amrit Kaal”. “This budget will pave way for our next five years of work. India is one of the fastest growing economies with 8% growth rate,” he said.
- Making an appeal to the MPs of all parties, the prime minister said it their responsibility to come together for making the country better. “I would like to request all the MPs of the country that from January till now we have fought as much as we had to, but now that period is over, the public has given its verdict. I would like to ask all the parties to rise above party lines and dedicate themselves to the country and use this dignified platform…for the next 4.5 years… We should participate for the empowerment of the farmers, youth and the country,” he said.
- Modi also pointed out that there was an attempt to “stifle the voice of the government” in the first session of Parliament. “…You must have seen that in the first Session of the Parliament, an attempt was made to stifle the voice of the government that has been elected with a majority by 140 crore people of the country. For 2.5 hours, an attempt was made to suppress the voice of the Prime Minister. The people of the country have sent us for the country and not for the party. This Parliament is for the country, not for the party…” he added.
- The NDA government and the opposition parties are expected to go head-to-head on raging issues like the ongoing probe into alleged paper leak cases linked to the NEET-UG 2024. The opposition has demanded that the all-India medical entrance examination should be conducted afresh. The Supreme Court will resume hearing several petitions about the alleged irregularities in the conduct of the test on May 5 at 4,750 centres in 571 cities, including 14 cities abroad. The pleas are seeking cancellation, retest and a court-monitored probe into the allegations of malpractice in the prestigious exam.
- Another contentious issue that is likely to be discussed is the directives for Kanwar Yatra in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, which mandate that all eateries on the route for the pilgrimage must display owners’ names. This has been called “anti-Muslim”, “discriminatory” and “state-sponsored bigotry” by the opposition. The BJP has defended the move, saying it gives fasting Hindus a choice to eat at a pure-vegetarian restaurant where the likelihood of them being served satvik food is higher.
- The government is expected to present six bills, including the one to replace the 90-year-old Aircraft Act, and also get the Parliament nod for the budget of Jammu and Kashmir, which is under central rule. Sitharaman will also table the Economic Survey in Parliament on Monday.
- The BJD, led by former Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik, has declared that it will play the role of a strong opposition and aggressively raise issues of interest to the state in Parliament. Patnaik, who was elected as the chairperson of the BJD parliamentary party, has asked his party MPs to take up the demand for special category status for Odisha.
- Earlier this week, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh had said the opposition will also resist any government move to dilute its stake in public sector banks below 51 per cent. The government is likely to bring amendments to the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 and other laws such as Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970, and the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1980 in the Budget Session due to which the government’s shareholding in PSBs can go below 51 per cent.
- Besides the Finance Bill, the government has also listed The Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill for introduction, consideration and passing. The proposed legislation aims to bring more clarity and convergence in the roles of different organisations working in the field of disaster management, a Lok Sabha bulletin said.
- The Bhartiya Vayuyan Vidheyak, 2024, seeks to replace the Aircraft Act of 1934 to provide enabling provisions for ease of doing business in the civil aviation sector. The other bills listed for introduction and passage during the session are the Boilers Bill to replace the pre-Independence era law, the Coffee (Promotion and Development) Bill and the Rubber (Promotion and Development) Bill.
- Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has also formed the Business Advisory Committee (BAC), which decides the parliamentary agenda. The committee chaired by the Speaker has Sudip Bandyopadhyay (TMC), PP Chaudhary (BJP), Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu (TDP), Nishikant Dubey (BJP), Gaurav Gogoi (Congress), Sanjay Jaiswal (BJP), Dileshwar Kamait (JD-U), Bhartruhari Mahtab (BJP), Dayanidhi Maran (DMK), Baijayant Panda (BJP), Arvind Sawant (Shiv Sena-UBT), Kodikunnil Suresh (Congress), Anurag Thakur (BJP) and Lalji Verma (SP) as members.