Both the Houses of Parliament on Monday (1st July 2024) discussed on Motion of Thanks on President Droupadi Murmu’s address to the joint sitting of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.
Participating in the discussion in the Lok Sabha, BJP MP Anurag Singh Thakur lauded the initiatives taken by the government in different sectors in the last ten years. He said, several steps have been taken by the government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the welfare of people and growth of the economy. He said, 25 crore people have been uplifted from poverty and the government has provided 80 crore people free foodgrain under the PM Garib Kalyan Ann Yojana. On the initiatives taken for speeding up the economy, Mr. Thakur said, bank capitalisation increased multifold and NPA reduced in the last ten years. Taking a dig at the previous UPA government, he said, the economy was in the fragile five category when they were in power, now the country has become the fifth largest economy and soon it will become the third largest. He also attacked the previous UPA government for rampant scams, crony capitalism and policy paralysis. He also accused Congress of undermining the constitution during its tenure.
Participating in the discussion, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi raised the issues of alleged irregularities in NEET exam, Agniveer scheme, unrest in Manipur, demonetisation, rising inflation, farmer issues among others. He alleged that the NEET examination is designed to favour the rich and not to help the poor. He said, opposition wants an entire day to be dedicated to discuss the issue of irregularities in the NEET exam. During his speech, Rahul Gandhi made a remark on a particular community which was objected by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. The Prime Minister said, calling a particular community violent is a very serious matter. The Home Minister demanded an apology from Rahul Gandhi for his objectionable remark. On this, Speaker Om Birla said, members should maintain the sanctity of the House while speaking. Later, Rahul Gandhi clarified that his statement was not against a particular community but it was directed towards BJP. While speaking on Agniveer scheme, Rahul Gandhi alleged that an agniveer who loses his life in line of duty, does not get the status of a martyr. Objecting to it, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said, Rahul Gandhi is misleading the House and claimed that the government is providing financial assistance of one crore rupees to the family of the Agniveer who sacrifices his life in the line of duty. Union Home Minister Amit Shah also objected to Rahul Gandhi’s remarks saying that authentic facts should be put before the House. He also demanded an apology from Mr. Gandhi. Leader of opposition also raised the issue of Minimum Support Price saying that farmers are not getting the right price for their produce. Opposing it, Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said, the government is providing MSP on foodgrains at the cost of production of 50 percent.
Union Panchayati Raj Minister and JD(U) leader Rajiv Ranjan Singh took a swipe at Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi saying that his today’s speech in the Lok Sabha was similar to his election campaign speech. He criticized Congress for undermining the constitution during their tenure. He said, the people have rejected Congress and have reposed faith in the Narendra Modi led government. He said the government has committed to build three crore houses for the poor in the coming years. He also said, 20 thousand crore rupees have been disbursed to farmers through PM KISAN Samman Nidhi.
BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj said, welfare of farmers and women empowerment are the priorities of the government. She said, over three lakh crore rupees have been disbursed to the farmers so far under the PM KISAN scheme and Minimum Support Price of foodgrains have also been increased to provide relief to the farmers. She said 81 crore poor people are being given free foodgrain under the PM Garib Kalyan Yojana to ensure their food security. Another party MP Sambit Patra listed out the works done by the government in the last ten years. He said, 13 crore tap water connections have been provided under the Jal Jeevan Mission. He said, four lakh villages have become open defecation free. Mohua Moitra of Trinamool Congress said, the government lacks simple majority as BJP is still 32 short from simple majority in Lok Sabha. She said that the government aims to make three crore lakhpati didis, however, she alleged in this process they have made one businessman a multi-billionaire. Manish Tewari of Congress said, the three criminal laws which came into force from today will have adverse impact. He demanded that implementation of the new criminal laws must be stopped and it should be reviewed again. Dr. Shrikant Shinde of Shiv Sena, Shambhavi of LJP (Ram Vilas), Gumma Thanuja Rani of YSR Congress, Amrinder Singh Warring of Congress, Gurmeet Singh Hayer of Aam Aadmi Party and others also participated in the discussion. The discussion is underway.
Earlier, opposition members staged a walk out from the House over the NEET issue.
In Rajya Sabha, when the House met this morning, Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar disallowed the adjournment notices moved by the opposition members on alleged irregularities in NEET examination. Later, the House resumed discussion on Motion of Thanks on President’s Droupadi Murmu’s address to the joint sitting of both the Houses. Participating in the discussion, Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge said the address of the President lacked vision and direction. He alleged that it has nothing for the poor, SC and minorities. Mr. Kharge questioned the decision to relocate the statues of Mahatma Gandhi, Dr BR Ambedkar and Chhatrapati Shivaji in Parliament House complex. The Chairman rejected Mr. Kharge’s comments saying criticism just for the sake of criticism is not right. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju also responded to the issue saying that all the statues have been placed at a good place where people can visit and pay their respects. Mr. Kharge said, people have given a befitting reply to the ruling party as 17 Ministers lost their seat during the Lok Sabha polls. Mr. Kharge also raised the issues of vacancies in Railways saying over three lakh posts are vacant which should be filled. Responding to it, Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, over five lakh people got jobs in the last ten years in the Railways which is much higher than compared to previous UPA regime. When Mr. Kharge made the remarks that the Chair will be on the side of the truth in the next three and half years in an apparent reference to the remaining tenure of Mr. Dhankhar, Leader of the House JP Nadda objected to the comment. He said such comments reflect that the Chair is not impartial, which is wrong.
Participating in the discussion, TMC MP Jawhar Sircar alleged the Centre has blocked one lakh 23 thousand crore rupees of West Bengal to be used for central schemes. YSR Congress member Meda Raghunadha Reddy said that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi leadership, the country’s international stature is growing in economy and political arena.
AAP’s leader Sanjay Singh alleged that opposition leaders were sent to jails without proof. On the irregularities in the NEET exam, he demanded abolition of the National Testing Agency and said that a probe should be initiated against NTA officials. Referring to the Lok Sabha election results, DMK MP Tiruchi Siva said that people gave a message to the BJP. He claimed that people lost their confidence in the BJP. CPI leader Binoy Viswam also raised the NEET issue. Asom Gana Parishad MP Birendra Prasad Baishya said that the last 10 years was the golden period for the people of North East under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. BRS leader K R Suresh Reddy, RJD MP Manoj Jha, BJD MP Subhasish Khuntia, NCP’s Praful Patel also participated in the discussion.
Earlier, both the Houses congratulated the Indian Men’s Cricket Team for winning the recent T20 World Cup in Barbados.
Disclaimer: This press release is sourced from News On AIR, Prasar Bharti and Press Information Bureau India (PIB).
