The Parliament saw the chairs of both Houses reprimanding protesting members from Tamil Nadu. While Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu asked the AIADMK and DMK members to leave the House for the day, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan suspended 24 AIADMK members for protests over the Cauvery issue.
The government planned to make another attempt to get the Triple Talaq Bill passed in the Rajya Sabha. However it failed to do so following repeated disruption by members protesting on Cauvery issue.
In the Lok Sabha, the Rafale deal was taken up for discussion.
Here are the live updates:
Lok Sabha
5:00 pm
Speaker Sumitra Mahajan suspends 24 AIADMK members under rule 374 A, for obstructing the House wilfully and adjourns the House till Thursday 11 a.m. The AIADMK members were suspended for the next five consecutive sittings for protesting and creating ruckus continuously in the House over the Cauvery issue.
Soon after the House reconvened after adjournment, AIADMK members trooped into the Well with placards and some flinging torn pieces of papers towards the table where Lok Sabha Secretariat officials sit during proceedings.
A visibly peeved Ms. Mahajan suspended 24 members of AIADMK under rule 374 (A) that allows Lok Sabha Speaker to suspend members in the event of grave disorder occasioned by a member coming into the Well of the House or abusing the rules of the House, among other things.
The Members suspended included K. Ashok Kumar, R.K. Bharathi Mohan, M. Chandrakasi, Jayakumar Jayavardhan, K. Parasuraman, Dr. K Kamraj, P. Kumar, M. Vasanti, C. Mahendran, K. Margatham and P. Nagarajan.
The AIADMK has 37 members in the Lok Sabha.
Earlier, Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu ordered members of the AIDMK and the DMK to leave the House for the day when they continued to protest in the Well over the Cauvery issue.
4:50 pm
Dhananjay Bhimrao Mahadik of NCP speaks:
When your alliance partner doubts your intention then you have to pull up your socks.
The difference of money as talked about needs explanation. Given HAL is the government-led company, why wasn't the deal given to the own and abled company instead of a loss making company. If the government is saying the current deal is cheaper, then why not the number of aircrafts less instead of more. We demand JPC.
"The house is adjourned till 5 pm," the Speaker announces following louder protest.
4:40 pm
Mohammad Salim, CPI-M from West Bengal speaks:
Why were the numbers of aircraft reduced given the pricing involved is much higher. The government has given wrong statement to the SC.
Mr. Modi is involved in every stage of making the deal. The government however seems to be working for self and Reliance instead of making country "self-reliant". Mr. Jaitley seems to be well-read about everything and he is of the view that everyone else here in Parliament are ignorant.
4:30 pm
Why the government has misrepresented the deal infront of the court? asks Jayadev Galla, TDP, AP.
Why was the HAL removed? Ms. Sitaraman should answer this. Also the files which are of prime security are with the former Defence Minister and are kept in his bedroom. Who so?
Defence Ministry should have approved the deal before it was announced. What happened was other way round. Deatls of deviation, reason behind the deviation should be explained.
Why the government wanted to change the deal, how is it benefitting us. And what happened to the PM's much touted 'Make in India' project when the aircrafts are made outside the country. It is unfortunate that PM does not bother to be present or answer these questions. He has no respect for the House or democracy.
4:20 pm
Arvind Ganpat Sawant SS, Mumbai-South says:
HAL has the capacity to manufacture such aircraft, why has teh government deprived them of the opportunity. The former CMD of the company himself made the statement about the same openly.
The conversations are going on since 2015, and yet we still dont have any aircraft. When PM made the deal with the business man, who cannot be named, why didn't he have the Defence Minister with himself.
We wouldn't have had any problem if the company in charge of the deal was good or capable. How can we say we don't need JPC. If the government is so pure then it shouln't be afraid to JPC. The people have the right to know.
4:05 pm
Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo, of BJD speaks:
In the murky world defence deals, the only department facing problems are Air Force. The life cycle method as mentioned by the Jaitley was scrapped.
There are questions on pricing, given Qatar bought the same aircrafts cheaper. Nobody is asking the deal is scrapped, but we all have the right to seek information and question the pricing.
Why couldn't we go with the deal that was sanctioned? The biggest failure of the country is to not have the technology transfer that the country was promised and would have also generated employment.
While the business dealings have benefited the UPA, this time it will benefit the BJP also. The details are deserved to be known.
3:50 pm
Saugata Roy of TMC says, "It is shameful that the party had to borrow a RS member who isn't even Defence Minister and behaving as an expert."
Price negotiated in the UPA is different from that of what BJP government has, kindly tell us why? Also why the number of aircrafts are less?
Why a newcomer was given the contract (offset partner) when we already have experienced company. Mr. Jaitley has not explained this.
Slogans and uproar aggravates. Mr. Roy's speech stalled.
Why was cheaper option rejected? So it is unclear why the Rafale aircraft as selected by the current government was decided to purchase.
3:40 pm
"HAL is offset supplier, Rahul ji is not aware of the deal at all. One has to start from A,B,C to explain the entire deal to him. SC says in the report, HAL will take 2.7 times higher man hour compared to the French team, which means more time more money. Besides, by the time we will have aircrafts Pakistan and China will be more equiped than us, which is against country's interest," Mr. Jaitley says.
"There cannot be JPC. This JPC is sought by party which was involved in Bofors an dso we cannot have JPC, " Mr. Jaitley concludes.
3:30 pm
Mr. Jaitley continues to speak about the Rafale deal.
The press statement released by the French government stated that the deal will be better than the previous deal.
After 74 meetings between two countries and SC has the details of it. According to the apex court, the paper work produced to the court they are satisfied with.
Due to security reasons we aren't speaking about the weaponised aircraft. The party could have understood the deal and pricing from Mr. Antony himself. SC said that the court doesn't want to interfere in pricing and yet to satisfy the consciousness the court read and cleared it. But the Congress party's election need is not getting satisfied.
RS adjourned till 11:00 a.m. on Thursday amid continuing protest on the Cauvery issue.
Arun Jaitley continues to speak about the Rafale deal.
"There is a speciality of the UPA the way they made deals. When they didn't understand a deal they make it impossible for the deal to pass. 'The process in which the deal was approved needs to be re-looked,' that is what was said by the then Defence Minister, who we all know to be a simple man," Mr. Jaitley says.
The Speaker raise her voice, "you cannot disrupt the House right now, you asked for the discussion so you have to listen to the Minister. This is not the way to behave."
However the uproar continues, following which the House si adjourned till 3:30 pm.
Lok Sabha resumes after a five-minute break. Speaker asks Rahul Gandhi to not speak about the record. Speaker requests Mr. Gandhi to not mention Anil Ambani in his speech.
"SC did not say that JPC should not be allowed and Parliamentary inquiry on Rafale deal should not happen. I want to know the truth about the deal," Mr. Gandhi says.
Speaker interrupts again, says "You cannot say Goa CM you can say former Defence Minister."
"There is no reason to fear, dear BJP leaders. We demand a JPC in the matter. PM has destroyed the entire Rafale deal. Let the truth be revealed. Entire nation blames the PM, unlike what he said the interview yesterday," Mr. Gandhi concludes.
Arun Jaitley answers.
"The lead speaker of the Congress party has been utterly disappointing. This is a case of natural dislike of truth. He has a legacy, teh legacy has manufactured a conversation between himself and French govt. The French govt has denied any such conversations. Today he tries to produce a record and document, which he fails to authenticate because he knows it manufactured by his party."
Jaitley further attacks Mr Gandhi, says, "The grant old party of the Indian politics is headed by someone who doesn't have basic idea about combat aircraft."
"The reason behind the difference between the prices is nothing but related to country's safety," Mr. Jaitley says. He further attacks Mr. Gandhi speaking about Bofors scandal and also Herald issue. "Maa, beta chor hai (mother and son are thieves)" slogans continues.
The conspirator of various deals now has the audacity of blaming us.
Rajya Sabha adjourned till 3:00 p.m. amidst uproar.
Houses resume function. Rahul Gandhi speaks in the lower House, begins wishing everyone a happy new year. Says, "it is a tragedy that members of the AIADMK members are causing disruption and protecting the PM."
"The excuse given for the 36 aircrafts that 'we needed them urgently', in that case where are the aircrafts. The entire new deal was bypassed. The then Defence Minister Mr. Parrikar had said on record, he has no idea. Second question is about pricing. Why has the price gone from 526 cr to 1600 cr.? Is it or is it not a fact that the new price was objected by Defence Ministry?
Is it paisa or patronage? HAL has been making aircrafts since many years. It has a tremendous record and has the potential of tremendous. On the other side, Anil Ambani is a failed businessman. Why do the PM wants to give the contract to his dear friend and cause extra money," asks Rahul Gandhi.
"There are a number of holes in the Rafale story. You will recall the last time the PM came to answer our question. The PM doesn't have courage to come and answer any question," he says.
Mr. Jaitley interrupts, says, "He is concocting facts and now he is requesting for a record to be played that has nothing to do with the Rafale deal, and the record itself is fabricated."
The Speaker stands up, says "I will not allow this to happen. Are you authenticating the record, Mr. Gandhi?" Members continue to cause uproar.
Speaker asks Mr. Gandhi "Are you authenticating it?" He replied, "I am not going to play the record as I understand they are scared of such things." Mr. Jaitley opposes, "He knows he can't authenticate it. You please authenticate and we shall listen to the video." Ms. Mahajan interrupts says "the House cannot function amidst uproar" and adjourns the House till 2.30 p.m.
Rajya Sabha adjourned till 2.28 p.m. amidst uproar by the AIADMK and other members.
Lok Sabha discusses, The Aadhaar and other laws amendment bill.
The govt has announced that they will enact data protection law but where is it now? asks Shashi Tharoor.
Original definition of Aadhaar is completely changed, through the amendment, government is getting the ultimate authority to decide everything related to identification, says Premchandran of RSP, Kollam.
"Whatever gaps the SC has raised, through the Bill we are addressing that," answers Ravi Shankar Prasad. Regarding privacy he says, "there is no risk of data theft. Data protection law is ready, we shall be coming soon in the House with it. Aadhaar is a robust success story of the country. All the objections are misplaced," Mr. Prasad says.
The Speaker requests the Minister to introduce the Bill and soon after the Bill is introduced the House is adjourned till 2 p.m.
Rajya Sabha resumes, however protests by AIADMK leaders continue.
Hansraj Gangaram Ahir answers questions raised by T Subbarami Reddy from INC regarding India-Pakistan border and border security, says "the borders now have better surveillance, thanks to the coordination of the State and Central government.
As the slogans grow louder, RS is adjourned till 2 p.m.
Rajya Sabha adjourned till 2 p.m.
Rajya Sabha was adjourned for 15 minutes as AIADMK members continued their protest and slogan-shouting over Cauvery river water issue.
When the House re-assembled at 11.40 a.m., it was adjourned again till noon.
The AIADMK members trooped into the well of the House over the construction of dam on Cauvery river. They were shouting slogans like “we want justice“.
Congress members were on their feet demanding a probe into Rafale jet deal by a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC).
As soon as the important papers were laid on the table by ministers and other members, Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu appealed to members for smooth functioning of the House as only four working days were left in the current Winter Session.
Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu: "The image of the Parliament is taking a beating. People are laughing at us. Please cooperate to see that this House functions in a meaningful manner for the remaining days and pass some resolutions. Issues cannot be dictated."
He said many Bills and discussions on important matters are pending.
Mr. Naidu warned AIADMK members that he would name them if they do not return to their seats.
However, AIADMK members continued their protest in the well, forcing the Chairman to adjourn the House for 15 minutes. - PTI
Lok Sabha adjourned till noon
Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned till noon following protests by members from the AIADMK and the TDP over various issues.
Soon after the House convened for the day, members from the AIADMK trooped into the Well protesting against construction of a dam across the Cauvery river. Many of them were also holding placards.
Later, members from the TDP also joined them. They were demanding special financial assistance for Amravati, the capital of Andhra Pradesh.
Around 30 members from both the parties were in the Well.
As soon as the AIADMK members started their protest, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said that their problem would not be solved like this and asked them to discuss the issue with the minister concerned.
“I don’t think it sends the right message to your state... this unruly behaviour must stop,” she told the protesting members.
A question related to vacancies in lower judiciary was taken up during the Question Hour, which went on for around 20 minutes.
As the din continued, Mahajan adjourned the proceedings till noon. - PTI
Here is the schedule for today
Lok Sabha:
Bills to be introduced
* The Aadhaar and other Laws (Amendment) Bill 2018
Bills for consideration and passing:
* The Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2018
* The New Delhi International Arbitration Bill, 2018
* The National Medical Commission Bill, 2017
Discussion under Rule 193
* Discussion on issues relating to Rafale deal
* Discussion on natural calamities in various parts of the country, particularly Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Odisha with special reference to cyclones Gaja, Titli etc.
Rajya Sabha:
Bills for Consideration and Passing
* The National Council for Teacher Education (Amendment) Bill, 2018
* The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Bill, 2018
* The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2018
