On February 12, the Lok Sabha passed the The Finance Bill, 2019. The Rajya Sabha saw the debate on Motion of Thanks to the President's address. The Congress staged a walkout in the Lok Sabha over the Rafale issue. The Upper House was was adjourned following an uproar over Samajwadi Party chief allegedly being stopped at Lucknow airport.
Today, Home MInister Rajnath Singh is likely to move the The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 in the Rajya Sabha. The Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha. The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2018 is also scheduled to be presented.
The Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Bill, 2018 and The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill, 2019, are likely to be taken up in Lok Sabha.
This is the last session of this budget session and the last sitting of the 16th Lok Sabha.
Besides, the CAG report on Rafale is expected to be tabled in Parliament today.
Statements by Ministers. Prakash Javadekar moves a Bill to elect two members to the court of the Aligarh Muslim University. Motion passed by voice vote.
Immediately, protests begin from the Opposition ranks. Chairman tries once, just only once, to persuade them to go back to their seats. And then he adjourns the House till 12 noon.
Now LSTV informs us that the House has been been adjourned till 12 noon amid noisy protests.
Congress chief Rahul Gandhi has stepped up his attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Rafale issue citing The Hindu’s report to claim that the PM’s argument of better pricing and faster delivery of the jets to defend the deal has been “demolished“. The report says that the Rafale deal was not on“better terms” than the UPA-era offer.
“The PM defended his personal RAFALE bypass deal on 2 counts: 1. Better Price 2. Faster Delivery. Both have been demolished by the revelations in the Hindu today,” he tweeted.
Meanwhile, proceedings are on in the Rajya Sabha. Post laying of papers on the table, department-related committees’ reports and statement are bing tabled.
House convenes for the last sitting of the 16th Lok Sabha. Speaker Sumitra Mahajan in Chair. Question Hour begins amid protests from Opposition ranks. Live broadcast on LSTV has been stopped abruptly even as the Telecom Minister was replying during Question Hour. No explanation has been given.
Lok Sabha schedule:
Bills for Consideration and Passing:
*The Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Bill, 2018
*The Jalianwala Bagh National Memorial (Amendment) Bill,
2018
*The Central Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2018
*The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences
(Amendment) Bill, 2018
Speaker hosts lunch
On February 12, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan hosted leaders of various political parties for a lunch. The lunch was hosted for Ministers, leaders and chief whips of parties in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
Besides Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu, Deputy Speaker M. Thambidurai and Union Ministers like Rajnath Singh, Prakash Javadekar, Maneka Gandhi, Ramvilas Paswan and Harsimrat Kaur Badal, former Prime Minister H. D. Deve Gowda, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, Nationalist Congress Party leader Supriya Sule, and Biju Janata Dal’s Bhartruhari Mahtab were among those who attended the lunch.
Session begins. Chairman Venkaiah Naidu in Chair. Obituary references are being read out. And then papers are being laid on the table.
Rajya Sabha schedule:
Bills for introduction:
*The National Institutes of Food Technology,
Entrepreneurship and Management Bill, 2019
Bills for consideration and Passing:
*The Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill,
2018.
*The New Delhi International Arbitration Centre Bill,
2019
*The Personal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2019.
*The Consumer Protection Bill, 2018.
*The Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2019.
*The Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2019.
*The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Third
Amendment) Bill, 2019
*The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019
*The Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and
Rehabilitation) Bill, 2018
*The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage)
Bill, 2018