Friday (August 9, 2024) marked the last day of the Budget Session in Parliament this year. It saw the presentation of the Union Budget 2024-25, the first Budget presented by the NDA government in its third term, and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s seventh consecutive one.
While the Rajya Sabha witness tumultuous scenes and a tense exchange between the Opposition and the Chair, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar, the Lok Sabha passed the Bharatiya Vayuyan Vidheyak Bill. Both Houses have now been adjourned sine die, a day ahead of schedule.
See the updates for the day here.
Rajya Sabha
The Opposition walked out of the Upper House on Friday (August 9, 2024) after a heated exchange with Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar over BJP MP Ghanshyam Tiwari’s statements against Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge earlier in the session.
Congress MP Jairam Ramesh demanded the Chair’s statement on an incident that occurred on July 31, when BJP MP Ghanshyam Tiwari called the Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge a “political dynast.” Chairman Dhankhar defended Mr. Tiwari, saying that the issue was resolved in a private meeting with Mr. Tiwari and Mr. Kharge. “Mr. Tiwari told me he is prepared to apologise if he transgressed any boundary. He, instead, embellished the reputation of Mr. Kharge,” Mr. Dhankhar said. The issue snowballed as Opposition MPs protested against Chairman Dhankhar’s unwillingness to address it in the House, with senior MPs Tiruchi Siva and SP MP Jaya Bachchan supporting the demand to expunge Mr. Tiwari’s statement.
Mr. Dhankhar took strong exception to Ms. Bachchan’s remark that his tone is “not acceptable.” He added that he “does not want schooling”, and that he does not go by anyone’s script.
You want to destabilise the entire nation, Mr. Dhankhar told the Opposition as they protested in the House. “I shall not be party to this House being converted, Mr. Kharge, as the epicentre of disturbance,” he said. The Opposition walked out soon after, as the Chairman allowed the Treasury benches to chime in on his stance against the Opposition’s demands. “India has leadership continually in its third term — a history in the making after six decades. India has leadership in [the form of] Prime Minister who has global recognition — the nation is proud of it,” Mr. Dhankhar said.
Ms. Bachchan demanded an apology from Mr. Dhankhar for being “disrespectful towards women MPs”. Addressing the media outside Parliament, she said that she objected to the tone of Mr. Dhankhar. “We are not schoolchildren. Some of us are senior citizens... This is my fifth term. I know what I am saying. Nobody has ever spoken the way [it] is being done nowadays in Parliament...I need an apology for saying ‘I don’t care’. He has to care, he’s on the Chair,” Ms. Bachchan added.
Leader of the House J.P. Nadda suggested bringing a “ninda prastav” against the Opposition for the protests.
On resuming, the Upper House was immediately adjourned till 2.30 p.m. then till 3:30 p.m. Mr. Dhankar then thanked all members for their participation, the staff for the smooth functioning of the Upper House and the media for covering the proceedings. The Rajya Sabha was then adjourned sine die, a day ahead of schedule.
Lok Sabha
In key developments on Friday (August 9, 2024), the Lok Sabha saw the introduction of the Railway (Amendment) Bill 2024, and the passing of the Bharatiya Vayuyan Vidheyak Bill. Further, Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju announced the formation of a Joint Parliamentary Committee to look into the Wakf Act, 2024, with the motion being adopted by the House.
Trinamool MP Saugata Ray opposed the Railway (Amendment) Bill, 2024 saying that instead of bringing new bills, the Railway Minister “should focus on the Railway accidents”. In response, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw highlighted that the Amendment would provide statutory powers to the Railway Board.
Civil Aviation Minister Rammohan Naidu briefed the Lok Sabha on the Bharatiya Vayuyan Vidheyak Bill. He said that under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi, the number of airports in India has doubled in the last 10 years. This Bill would further help the aviation sector develop, and make it accessible to everyone in the country, he added. We have reduced the redundancy that existed in the Indian Aircraft Act. Under the leadership of Mr. Modi, civil aviation has taken inspiration to design, manufacture and export planes to the whole world. That will be possible with the new Bill, he said.
He also said the Bill aims to bring the exam conducted on the use of radio communication equipment in an aircraft under the ambit of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) under the new Bill. On the issue of Hindi imposition, raised by Lok Sabha members including DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran, Mr. Naidu said only the title of the Bill is in Hindi, and the rest of the text of the Bill is in English. “Everybody should feel proud that the Bill is named in an Indian language,” he added.
The Bill was later passed by the House.
The proceedings for the day in the Lok Sabha started with Speaker Om Birla lauding the efforts of the Indian Hockey Team for clinching bronze and Neeraj Chopra for winning the silver medal at the Paris Olympics. This was followed by Question Hour, which saw JD(U) MP Giridhari Yadav requesting a High Court Bench in Bihar. Arjun Singh Meghwal, Minister for Law and Justice, said the Centre would consider the issue once he obtains the required approvals from the State government, High Court and Governor. Congress MP Manish Tewari challenged the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the translation of the Supreme Court judgments. Mr. Meghwal reassured the House and said that a committee monitored the translation regularly.
Mr. Jaishankar, while responding to the query raised by Asaduddin Owaisi, clarified that a total right Indian nationals died during their service in the Russian Army. He also added that the Centre has a list of 19 people who are involved in recruitment scams in foreign countries and the investigation is on.
During Zero Hour, Meghalaya’s Voice of the People’s Party’s Dr. Ricky Andrew J. Syngkon urged the government to ensure a blanket ban on mining in Meghalaya or lift the ban completely so that it would help people who are dependent on the activity. “The NGT banned mining in Meghalaya in 2014. Despite the ban, some people indulge in mining and transportation of coal. The State government has turned a blind eye to this,” Mr. Syngkon said.
At the end of the day’s proceedings, Mr. Birla said that proceedings during the current session had been conducted for about 115 hours. The Budget was presented on June 23, after which the Finance Bill was discussed in the House, with productivity of the House being above 130%, he noted.
Post this, the Lok Sabha too was adjourned sine die.
(Compiled by Yash Mishra, Priyali Prakash, Suchitra Karthikeyan, and Sindhu Nagaraj)
