Parliament on Monday continued to discuss the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address in both Houses during the ongoing Budget session.
Lok Sabha
Prime Minister Narendra Modi responded to the debate on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address in the Lok Sabha today. In his speech that lasted over an hour, Mr. Modi predicted that the BJP would win 370 seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections while the NDA would cross 400. Calling it “Modi’s guarantee”, he claimed that India would become the third largest economy in his third term itself.
Mr. Modi also attacked former Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi in his speech. Countering the Opposition’s claims of nepotism, he said that he supported family members of politicians getting into politics but not parties being run by families.
The Prime Minister also alleged that the Congress never worked for the poor, citing Bharat Ratna-awardee Karpoori Thakur as an example. He said that the war on corruption will continue, rubbishing questions on the agencies’ independence.
Among the Opposition members, RSP MP N.K. Premachandran said that as per Article 87 of the Constitution of India, the President must address a joint session of both Houses at the beginning of the first session each year and talk about the performance of the government in the previous years as well as the programmes and policies of the government for the new year. He called this year’s address “deeply disappointing” since it was “only about the achievements of the government”. “It is absolutely a political statement of the government regarding their achievements, that too for the coming Parliament elections,” he said.
The Motion of Thanks was adopted by the House through a voice vote.
Earlier in the day, Union Minister Jitendra Singh introduced the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2024, which seeks to deal with malpractices and irregularities in competitive examinations, with provisions for a maximum jail term of 10 years and a fine up to ₹1 crore. Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai introduced the Jammu and Kashmir Local Bodies Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2024 on behalf of Home Minister Amit Shah. The Bill seeks to amend the Jammu and Kashmir Panchayati Raj Act, 1989; the Jammu and Kashmir Municipal Act, 2000; and the Jammu and Kashmir Municipal Corporation Act, 2000.
Rajya Sabha
Before resuming the discussion on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address, Rajya Sabha commenced with discussions on the need for dashcams for road safety and releasing the National Disaster Response Fund to Tamil Nadu in the aftermath of Cyclone Michaung. Congress’s Imran Pratapgarhi drew attention to DDA’s “unannounced” demolition of a mosque in Mehrauli last week. V. Vijasasai Reddy called the UGC’s draft guidelines for de-reservation of SC, ST and OBC candidates an “unconstitutional step”.
Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar refused to allow AAP leader Sanjay Singh to take an oath as a member of the Upper House. The matter is with the Privileges Committee, the Chairman said. Mr. Singh was previously arrested in a money-laundering case related to the alleged Delhi excise scam.
The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Amendment Bill, 2024, was also introduced in the Upper House.
During the discussion on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s Address, AITC’s Sukhendu Sekhar Ray said despite the visible economic inequality, “we’re chanting the mantra of Amrit Kaal”. He also objected to the claim that the Nyaya Sanhita Bill was passed after support from all Parliamentarians. “It reminds of a situation in 1933... when the Enabling Law was passed in Hitler’s regime, after sending 106 Parliamentarians to concentration camps,” Mr. Ray said.
On the other hand, BJP member Sushil Kumar Modi said that the PM Modi-led government, in its first year of governance, got 13.5 crore people out of poverty. He added that 25 crore people had come out of poverty recently and have come to be regarded as the ‘neo-middle’ class.
(Compiled by Sumeda, Saumya Kalia, Sruthi Darbhamulla, Saptaparno Ghosh, Suchitra Karthikeyan, and Priyali Prakash)
