Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge speaking to reporters after Congress MPs walked out of the House. (Source: ANI)Parliament Budget Session 2022 Live Updates: Congress MPs staged a walkout as Prime Minister Narendra Modi was speaking in the Rajya Sabha. Leader of the Opposition of Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said the MPs walked out as Modi was accusing the Congress, instead of replying to Motion of Thanks to President Ram Nath Kovind’s address.
Replying to Motion of Thanks to President Ram Nath Kovind’s address in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched another blistering attack on the Congress on Tuesday as he accused the opposition party of destabilising state governments, corruption, putting a family’s interests over everyone else’s and not respecting freedom of speech among others.
He also said that the Congress in “grip of urban Naxals as they are controlling its thoughts and ideology”. “When Congress was in power, they didn’t allow the country’s development. Now when in Opposition, they are obstructing the development of the country. They are now objecting to the nation,” he said. He added that had Congress not been there, “democracy would have had been free of dynastic culture” and the “blot of Emergency would have not been there”.
PM Modi in Lok Sabha on Monday (Screengrab/Sansad TV)
Lok Sabha proceedings begin, Question Hour underway
Stating that there is a "comfortable" supply of DAP fertiliser for the ongoing rabi season, Fertiliser Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday said the Centre however has asked companies to manufacture additional quantity of DAP at no-profit-no- loss basis to meet the requirement.
DAP (Di ammonium Phosphate) is the most widely consumed fertiliser after urea in the country. Domestic production of DAP reached 34.35 lakh tonne and imports were at 42.56 lakh tonne till January of the ongoing fiscal year.
Mandaviya, in his written reply to the Rajya Sabha, said there is no "acute shortage" of DAP in the country. However, in between the season, some states had highlighted the shortfall of DAP particularly in a few districts.
Accordingly, based on state governments requests, the Centre has moved the DAP rakes to meet their requirement. "However, the overall availability of DAP fertiliser in the country is comfortable during the ongoing rabi (winter) season of 2021-22(crop year July-June)," he said. (PTI)
“If Congress would not have been there, Rajya Sabha would have remained the council of states under the Govt of India Act of 1919, and instead of ordinary citizens, princes and rulers would have been sitting there to sing praises of Queen Elizabeth II,” says Congress leader P Chidambaram. (ANI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday blamed Jawaharlal Nehru for not sending armed forces to liberate Goa from Portuguese rule for 15 years only to protect his "peace-loving global image".
"It has been 60 years of Goa liberation. People of Goa must be listening to me today. The way Sardar Patel made a strategy for Hyderabad and Junagad, if the same spirit was followed for Goa as well, then it would not have stayed under foreign rule for 15 years after India got independence. The state got liberated after 15 years of the country's independence," Modi stated.
Citing media reports of that period, he noted that Nehru did not take any action against the Portuguese occupation of Goa, as he thought that it would harm his international image. “This was his, Pandit Nehru's biggest fear. He thought that invading the foreign government would lead to destruction of his peace-loving global image. Let Goa suffer but my image should not get dented, he thought," Modi stated in the Upper House.
He further said: "When satyagrahis were being fired upon by a foreign power, my Indian brothers and sisters were facing bullets, at that time our prime minister said that I will not send the Army. He declined to help the satyagrahis. This is the torture meted out to Goa's people by the Congress party. This led to 15 years more of foreign rule in Goa. Many brave souls had to lose their lives because of this."
Modi also referred to Nehru's speech on August 15, 1955, where he said that no army help would be sent to help the protesting satyagrahis and the matter would be resolved peacefully. "People of my country were left helpless, this is what they did with Goa. The people of Goa cannot forget this attitude of the Congress party," Modi added. (PTI)
The issues related to pay scale revision and pension of NINL employees will be decided by the new management after disinvestment, Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad said on Tuesday.
The government had last month approved the sale of loss-making Neelachal Ispat Nigam Ltd (NINL) to Tata Steel Long Products (TSLP) Ltd for Rs 12,100 crore.
The bid by TSLP was double the reserve price of Rs 5,616.97 crore set by the government based on the valuation of the transaction adviser and asset valuer.
In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Karad said the strategic disinvestment of NINL is on a going concern basis and the employees shall continue to be employees of NINL in terms of the agreed Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) to be signed with TSLP. (PTI)
The issuance of the Letter of Intent (LoI) to the successful bidder of Central Electronics Ltd (CEL) has been put on hold, pending examination of specific allegations regarding the bidder, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Tuesday.
In November, the government approved the highest price bid of Rs 210 crore by the Delhi-based Nandal Finance and Leasing Pvt Ltd for the sale of 100 per cent equity shareholding of the government of India in CEL -- a CPSE under the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR).
In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, the Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad said, for the strategic disinvestment of CEL, open bids were invited based on the criteria of networth as laid down in Preliminary Information Memorandum (PIM)/ Expression of Interest (EoI).
"The field of work of the bidder is not among the relevant criteria. It is a part of the disinvestment policy of the government to not make sectoral experience a qualification criterion for bidders to expand the universe of bidders and provide them a level-playing field," Karad said.
He was replying to a question on whether the bid for privatisation of CEL, has been won by the Nandal Finance and Leasing Ltd, a furniture making company. (PTI)
Child mortality and maternal mortality rates have not come down in Chhattisgarh even though there has been been average reduction at the all-India level, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Bharati Pravin Pawar said on Tuesday and asked the state government to take steps to address the matter.
She was responding to a series of queries in the Rajya Sabha from members on the reasons for the high rates of child and maternal mortality in the tribal areas of Chhattisgarh despite the Central government taking steps to strengthen health infrastructure in the state. Responding to the queries during Question Hour, Pawar said, "While there has been an average reduction at all India levels, but not in Chhattisgarh."
A directive has been issued to all states to reduce child and maternal mortality rates. Several Central schemes like the Janani and Shishu Suraksha yojana and immunisation programmes are being implemented, she said.
The minister said malnutrition is not the direct cause for maternal mortality. There is increased risk in pregnancy, and infection rate is seven per cent in Chhattisgarh, she said, asking the state government to take adequate steps to address these issues. (PTI)
With reopening of schools raising concern over the safety of children below 15 years of age, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday said in the Rajya Sabha that the government will take a decision to vaccinate this group based on suggestions of an expert group.
The government has constituted an expert group to give suggestions on which age group to be given COVID-19 vaccine first and accordingly vaccination for the 15-18 age group is underway, he said during the Question Hour.
"About 67 per cent in the age group of 15-18 years have been vaccinated so far. The vaccination drive is being implemented in a speedy manner. The future decision (to vaccinate those below 15 years of age) will be taken based on the expert group's suggestion," Mandaviya said.
The expert group meets regularly and gives suggestions based on which the government takes action, he added. The minister was responding to a query by BJP member Syed Zafar Islam on level of threat of Omicron variant of coronavirus on children amid reopening of schools and with those below 15 years of age not being vaccinated. (PTI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched another blistering attack on the Congress Tuesday as he accused the opposition party of destabilising state governments, corruption, putting a family’s interests over everyone else’s and not respecting freedom of speech among others.
“The difficulty faced by Congress is that they never thought of anything else before the dynasty. We will have to accept that the biggest threat to India’s democracy is the dynastic parties. When a family is the supreme in any party, then the first casualty is that of talent,” Modi said. Read full report
Congress MP P Chidambaram hit out at the Centre, calling it a 'no data available' government. "In Parliament, a question was asked, who are members of tukde tukde gang? Minister said no data available. No data is available on 'tukde tukde gang', oxygen shortage deaths, bodies flowing in rivers, migrants walking back to homes. It's a 'No Data Available' govt," he said.
Following a walkout by Congress MPs in Rajya Sabha, Leader of Opposition in the Upper House Mallikarjun Kharge said, "He (Modi) just targeted the Congress. The House has members of all parties and they speak on all schemes. Instead of speaking on those, he made remarks on Congress. He remembered Gandhi ji. Those who worship Gandhi ji's assassin are telling us that Congress should be dissolved."
Congress MPs staged a walkout as Prime Minister Narendra Modi was speaking in the Rajya Sabha.
Leader of the Opposition of Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said the MPs walked out as Modi was accusing the Congress, instead of replying to Motion of Thanks to President Ram Nath Kovind’s address.
Rajya Sabha passes Motion of Thanks to the President's Address.
Lata Mangeshkar's family was from Goa. Her younger brother Hridaynath Mangeshkar was kicked out of All India Radio for presenting a programme on Veer Savarkar's poem.
PM Modi said, "When Congress was in power, they didn't allow country's development. Now when in Oppositionn, they are obstructing the development of the country. They are now objecting to 'Nation'. If the idea of 'Nation' is unconstitutional, then why is your party called Indian National Congress?"
PM Modi said, 'It was said here that 'Congress na hoti, toh kya hota'. It's a result of the thinking that 'India is Indira, Indira is India.' But I think if Congress wasn't there, Emergency, Sikh riots, Kashmiri Pandits exodus wouldn't have happened.'
Continuing his attack on the Congress, PM Modi said, "The difficulty being faced by Congress is that they never thought of anything else before the dynasty. We'll have to accept that biggest threat to India's democracy is the dynastic parties. When a family is the supreme in any party, then the first casualty is that of talent."
The Prime Minister also said, "It was said in the House that Congress laid India's foundation and BJP just hoisted a flag. It wasn't said like a joke in the House. It's result of serious thinking that's dangerous to nation - some people believe that India was born in 1947. Problems arise due to this thinking."
"This mindset it has had an impact on the policies of those who received the opportunity to work for the last 50 years. It gave birth to perversions. This democracy is not due to your generosity. Those who strangulated democracy in 1975 should not speak on it," Modi added.
Attacking the Opposition parties, PM Modi said, "A few leaders of some political parties have shown immaturity in the last 2 years which has disappointed the nation. We have seen how games have been played due to political selfishness. Campaigns were done against Indian vaccines."
"Some people need self-introspection. When an all-party meeting over Covid-19 was held and the government was supposed to give detailed presentation, attempts were made to speak to some political parties to convince them to not attend it. They themselves did not come and boycotted the meeting," he added.