Lok Sabha News

Lok Sabha was adjourned sine die, the House on Friday adopted a resolution recommending the two bills on holding simultaneous polls to a joint committee of the two Houses.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge submitted a letter to Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla alleging «physical assault» by other Bharatiya Janata Party MPs, other party MPs also told that party leader Rahul Gandhi had been blocked from entering Parliament, following which a scuffle broke out between the two parties. This comes amidst INDIA bloc and NDA leaders staging parallel protests at the Parliament premises regarding the remarks of Union Home Minister Amit Shah on B R Ambedkar. During the scuffle, two BJP MPs, Pratap Chandra Sarangi and Mukesh Rajput were injured. Both MPs were admitted to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and are being treated for their injuries.

Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha leader Derek O'Brien on Wednesday submitted a privilege notice against Home Minister Amit Shah over his remarks on B R Ambedkar, a source said. According to the source, the notice has been filed under Rule 187 of Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business of the Rajya Sabha. The notice also quoted the statement the home minister made in the Upper House on Tuesday during his reply to a debate on the 75 years of the Constitution. Both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha witnessed protests from the Congress and some other opposition parties over Shah's alleged insult of Ambedkar, resulting in both the Houses being adjourned.

Parliament Attack. Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Rajya Sabha LoP Mallikarjun Kharge, Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Ministers JP Nadda, Kiren Rijiju and others paid tribute to the fallen jawans, at the Parliament, on the 23 years of the Parliament Attack. Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi also paid the floral tributes.

In a written reply to Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Food and Consumer Affairs B L Verma said, the Department of Agriculture constituted a fact finding committee to look into allegations of irregularities in the procurement of onions under Price Stabilisation Fund (PSF) by National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED). The department, vide OM (office memorandum) dated 4th November, 2024, «conveyed the suggestions that concerned district administration should be involved in the procurement process to ensure transparency and local oversight, to adopt biometric based verification of farmers, and payment to registered farmers bank account through Aadhaar Enabled Payment system», he added.

Indian Motion Picture Producers' Association and the America's Motion Picture Association, which has an office in India, to present their views on the issue of over-the-top (OTT) content on December 20. The committee, chaired by Lok Sabha member Nishikant Dubey, will deliberate on the topic, "Emergence of OTT Platforms and Related Issues," with representatives from these associations. This development follows Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw's request for the parliamentary standing committee to take up the issue of strengthening existing laws governing social media and OTT platforms on a priority basis.

Ruhullah Mehdi, the Lok Sabha MP from Srinagar, on Tuesday said that he is moving an impeachment motion in Parliament for the removal of justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav, a Judge in the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad for his anti-Muslim remarks and supporting a particular ideology and political party. Ruhullah has invoked Article 124(4) of the Constitution for the removal of justice Yadav, seeking signatures of 100 members of the Parliament to move the motion. The Lok Sabha member from National Conference said that more than seven members, including AIMIM's Asaduddin Owaisi, Rajkumar Roat from Rajasthan, Sudama Prasad from Bihar, Mohibbullah and Ziau Rahman from UP, have already signed the motion.

INDIA bloc on Tuesday submitted a notice to bring a motion in the Rajya Sabha for the removal of Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar, accusing him of 'partisan' conduct as chairman of the Upper House. If the motion is accepted, these parties need a simple majority to get it passed. However, they do not have the requisite numbers in the 243-member House. Opposition members, however, insisted that it was a 'strong message to fight for parliamentary democracy'. On behalf of the Opposition, Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh and Naseer Hussain submitted the notice, signed by 60 MPs from Congress, RJD, Trinamool, CPI, CPI-M, JMM, AAP, DMK, Samajwadi Party, to Rajya Sabha Secretary General PC Mody.

BJP on Tuesday termed INDIA bloc's move to submit a notice for removal of Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar as «extremely regrettable», saying the government was very proud of him. Addressing a press conference here, Union parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju said that they were happy with the work of the Rajya Sabha chairman while assuring that the NDA has the majority in the House. «The Opposition disrespects the dignity of the chair, be it in the Rajya Sabha or the Lok Sabha. We all know that in the parliamentary tradition, the Speakers of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha are our guides. Whoever sits on the chair, we have to obey them. Congress party and their alliance partners continuously behaved wrongly by not following the direction of the chair,» he said. Rijiju said that Dhankhar comes from a humble background and talks about farmers' and people's welfare inside and outside the Parliament. «He guides us. We respect him,» Rijiju said.

Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), aims to promote innovation and agri-entrepreneurship, by providing financial and technical support for nurturing startups. Minister of State for Agriculture Bhagirath Choudhary, in his written reply to the Lok Sabha, said a financial assistance of Rs 122.50 crore has been released to 1,708 agri startups from 2019-20 to 2023-24. The funds were released through five Knowledge Partners (KPs) and 24 RKVY Agribusiness Incubators (R-ABIs) that provide training and incubate startups for implementation of this programme.

Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said while the Narendra Modi government is hiking the rates of the income tax and other taxes for the common man, it is giving concessions to billionaires, and claimed that it is set to introduce another slab of the GST to burden people. Gandhi said the Congress will continue to oppose this «injustice» of imposing higher tax rates on things of daily use and giving concessions to big billionaires. «See another example of concessions to capitalists and looting common people. »On one hand, the income tax is increasing constantly in comparison to the corporate tax. On the other hand, the Modi government is preparing to collect more money through Gabbar Singh Tax," he said in a post in Hindi on X.

BJP on Thursday accused Lok Sabha's Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi of colluding with 'anti-India international forces'. The ruling party questioned him on a Mediapart (French outlet) report about news portal Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP). Speaking in the Rajya Sabha, BJP's Sudhanshu Trivedi said: «Is it a mere coincidence that when Parliament is on such reports ((harmful to India)) come out? The report on Indian farmers came out on February 3, 2021 and budget session began on January 29, 2021; Pegasus report came out on July 18, 20221, and monsoon session began on 19 July, 2021; then again budget session began on January 31, 2023, and the Hindenburg report had come out on January 24, 2023; the BBC report 'India: the Modi Question' also came out on January 17, 2023.» He also quoted Mediapart's report that certain foreign powers are funding OCCRP, which also focuses on India and has association with billionaire investor George Soros. In the Lok Sabha, BJP's Nishikant Dubey alleged that protests in Parliament were being held at the behest of some global outfits.

food processing sector received foreign direct investment (FDI) of USD 368.37 million till September of the current fiscal year, Parliament was informed on Thursday. Minister of State for Food Processing Industries Ravneet Singh Bittu in a written reply to the Lok Sabha said, Ireland invested USD 83.84 million, Singapore USD 48.45 million, Mauritius USD 41.65 million, the United States USD 38.60 million, Australia USD 20.18 million, and Mexico USD 9.59 million in April-September FY25. In FY24, FDI in food processing was USD 608.31 million.

Department of Telecom (DoT) has sought views on norms for allocating satellite spectrum from sector regulator Trai, Parliament was informed on Wednesday. The government has decided to allocate spectrum for satellite communication services through an administrative mechanism while telecom operators are required to purchase the radiowaves through auction. Minister of State for Communications, Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar in a written reply to the Lok Sabha said that spectrum assigned administratively are also chargeable and hence contribute to revenue.

opposition parties of the INDIA bloc have written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, urging him to allow leaders of the opposition in both Houses to speak during the Constitution Day celebration function. President Droupadi Murmu, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will speak during Tuesday's function in the Central Hall of Samvidhan Sadan to mark the 75th anniversary of the Constituent Assembly's adoption of the Constitution. «We are writing in the context of the function being held tomorrow (Tuesday) in the Central Hall of Samvidhan Sadan to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution of India. We understand that the function will be addressed by the president, vice-president and the prime minister of India,» the letter signed by leaders of various parties said. «We believe that in the best traditions and interests of Parliamentary democracy, the Leaders of Opposition (LoPs) in both Houses should also be given an opportunity to speak on this historic occasion,» it added.

Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla on Monday said that ideologies and expression can differ but the country is always first (supreme). There were people of different ideologies in the Constituent Assembly, and there were people of different religions too, but the Constituent Assembly had meaningful and positive discussions, he added. Differences can exist but people must come together to work for the country, Birla said, adding that differences are the strength of democracy. «On Constitution Day, we need to take inspiration from the debates and discussions of the Constituent Assembly. There were people of different ideologies in the Constituent Assembly, and there were people of different religions too, but the Constituent Assembly had meaningful and positive discussions. The differences were there then also as it is the strength of democracy. We should take inspiration from our traditions and customs so that we can have good discussions in our respective Houses. The differences can exist, but we must come together to work for the country. Ideologies and expression can differ, but the country is always first (supreme),» Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla told ANI.

Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole on Wednesday slammed the BJP for dragging him in its allegations of Bitcoins misappropriation to influence the state polls and said he would take the legal route to fight the «fake» charges against him. Talking to reporters after casting his vote in Bhandara district, Patole said he is a farmer and has nothing to do with Bitcoins. The BJP on Tuesday played purported voice notes of Patole and NCP (SP) leader Supriya Sule to allege attempts to encash Bitcoins to influence the state assembly elections, claiming it poses a serious question on the conduct of polls in a free and fair manner. Sharing the audios in which the voices and signal chats purportedly belonging to the two opposition leaders stress the Bitcoin transactions for allegedly funding their poll campaign, BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said it is clear that the MVA has seen the writing on the wall that it is facing defeat in the polls.

Congress MP and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday chaired a District Development Coordination and Monitoring Committee (DISHA) committee meeting in Raebareli. DISHA committee meetings are held on a quarterly basis, under the chairmanship of the MP. Earlier in the day, Rahul Gandhi inaugurated the newly-built Shaheed Chowk and Degree College Chauraha in Raebareli. He also visited and offered prayers at Shri Peepaleshwar Mahadevji Mandir and Hanuman Mandir in the city.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday assured that he and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the UDF candidate for the upcoming Lok Sabha bypoll in Wayanad, are committed to establishing a medical college in the hill constituency. Addressing a public meeting at Areekode in nearby Malappuram district as part of the election campaign, the former Wayanad MP said it's not easy for him to leave the hill constituency as the people cutting across party lines supported him during his tough time. «Some commitments that I have made to you. Commitment to medical college… commitment of night traffic. I guarantee you, your new MP is going to be committed to doing these things. And also, your old MP is also going to be committed. We will personally build one of the best medical colleges in the country in this constituency,» he said. The mountainous constituency faces a shortage of basic infrastructure, with the need for a well-equipped medical college emerging as a key issue highlighted by all three political fronts — the Congress-led UDF, CPI(M)-led LDF, and the BJP — in this bypoll.