Parliament Session HIGHLIGHTS: Lok Sabha passes Motion of Thanks to President’s Address, adjourned sine die

All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) MP Sagarika Ghose said in Rajya Sabha today, “There is a democracy deficit in the nation.” She mentions, among other examples, that civil war in Manipur was continuing without redressal, that lynching by mobs has increased, and that there is delegitimisation of the Opposition.

During in speech in Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav made a pitch for holding a caste census in the country.

He asserted that “social justice is impossible to achieve without it”.

BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj moved a notice under Direction 115 in Lok Sabha over Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi‘s speech.

She said, “LoP Rahul Gandhi made several inaccurate statements in his speech yesterday…”

Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday wrote to Speaker Om Birla over the remarks and portions from his speech expunged, requesting that the remarks be restored.

The letter read, “…Shocked to note the manner in which considerable portion of my speech has been simply taken off from the proceedings under the garb of expunction…Taking off from records my considered remarks goes against the very tenets of parliamentary democracy…”

Defending Rahul Gandhi‘s debut speech in Lok Sabha, Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram, Shashi Tharoor, said, “I didn’t find anything wrong in what Rahul Gandhi said in Parliament. He said, pointing towards the BJP people, that there are people who call themselves Hindu, but indulge in spreading hatred and violence. We have been seeing this in politics that people misuse the name of ‘Hindutva’ without knowing much about it, without knowing what Swami Vivekananda taught us.”

Reacting to Congress MP Mallikarjun Kharge in Rajya Sabha, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar said, “… You cannot every time run down the chair. You cannot every time disrespect the chair… You stand suddenly and speak whatever you want without understanding what I am saying. Never in the history of this country and Parliamentary democracy and Rajya Sabha proceedings, there has been such disregard for the chair, as from you… Time for you to reflect… Your dignity has been attacked multiple times… I have always tried to protect your dignity…”

Speaking on the paper leaks issue in Lok Sabha, Samajwadi Party MP Akhilesh Yadav said,” Why are paper leaks happening? The truth is that this is being done by the government so that it doesn’t have to give jobs to youth.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday addressed the National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) parliamentary party meeting and advised all NDA MPs to not behave the way Congress leader Rahul Gandhi did in the Lok Sabha.

This was PM Modi’s first address to the MPs of the ruling bloc during the first session of Parliament since he assumed office for a third term.

Saying that his party’s agenda of getting the EVMs removed is still intact, Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday said, “EVM pe mujhe kal bhi bharosa nahi tha, aaj bhi nahi hai bharosa, mein 80/80 seats jeet jaun tab bhi nahi bharosa (I did not trust the EVMs yesterday, I do not trust the EVMs today. Even if I win all 80 seats, I won’t trust the EVMs…The issue of EVM has not died.”

Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday delivered an address in the Lok Sabha and took a veiled dig at the BJP for losing the Faizabad seat in the recently held Lok Sabha elections. The defeat on this seat was seen as a major loss for the BJP as Ayodhya, where the Ram Temple has been built, comes under Faizabad.

SP leader Awadhesh Prasad won the Faizabad seat.

After PM Modi delivered an address at the NDA Parliamentary meeting, JD(S) MP HD Kumaraswamy said, “The PM advised all the MPs to be present in the House and learn a lot of things. He also advised all members on how to behave in the House and work in favour of the people.”

A day after certain portions of his speech were expunged after massive uproar from the ruling bloc, Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said, “In Modi ji’s world, truth can be expunged. But in reality, the truth can’t be expunged. I said what I had to say, that is the truth. They can expunge as much as they want. Truth is truth.”

Both Houses in Parliament – Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha – reconvened on Day 7 on Tuesday.

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s debut speech as Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha created a lot of political controversy with the BJP leaders accusing him “of speaking lies, misleading the House and terming the entire Hindu community violent”.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was welcomed by NDA leaders at the NDA Parliamentary Party meeting in Delhi on Tuesday.

With PM Modi likely to address the Lok Sabha at 4 pm today, BJP took a dig at Rahul Gandhi over his fiery debut speech as the Leader of Opposition and responded with “aaj class lagegi”.

On Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi‘s speech in the Parliament, which has triggered a political storm leading to certain portions of his speech getting expunged, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said: “LoP Rahul Gandhi ji has not said anything wrong about Hindus and the Hindu community…He said that Modi ji is not Hindutva and BJP is not the entire Hindu community.”

Top BJP leaders, including Home Minister Amit Shah and party chief JP Nadda, are in attendance at the NDA Parliamentary meeting.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday arrived for the NDA Parliamentary meeting. PM Modi will, for the first time, address the ruling bloc MPs after winning the Lok Sabha elections.