Parliament session: Lok Sabha adjourned till Tuesday
Swearing-in of other members of the House will continue on Tuesday.
The Monsoon Session of Parliament began on Monday. The first Parliament session of the 17th Lok Sabha will end on July 26. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as well as other Union ministers and newly elected representatives took oath as MPs in the Lok Sabha.
“The role of an Opposition and an active Opposition is important in a Parliamentary democracy,” Modi said ahead of the session. “The Opposition need not bother about their numbers. Every word the Opposition speaks is of value to us.”
BJP MP Virendra Kumar took oath as the pro-tem speaker of the Lok Sabha. He will oversee the oath-taking ceremonies of new Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs.
The government will attempt to pass The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2019 during the session. The bill has caused much controversy, and the Congress and BJP ally Janata Dal (United) have stated their intention to oppose it.
Here are the main updates:
6.22 pm: Members from Odisha take oath. The House decides to extend the time until all members from the state complete their oaths, The Hindu reports.
6.17 pm: MPs from Maharashtra take oath. Many members prefer Marathi as their language of choice while taking oath.
6.10 pm: Members from Madhya Pradesh are taking oath. All of them are taking oath in Hindi, The Hindu reports.
5.55 pm: Union Ministers Babul Supriyo and Debashree Choudhury from West Bengal were greeted by BJP MPs with “Jai Shri Ram” slogans when they were called to take oath, PTI reported.
5.41 pm: Ruckus during Pragya Singh Thakur’s oath. She takes oath in the name of a “Swamiji”, opposition leaders oppose to it. The Chair says that she can take the oath only in the name of God or the Constitution. Thakur claims it is her full name and that she had mentioned it in her form. The Chair checks her name in the records and assures only her name mentioned in the records will go in the Lok Sabha records, The Hindu reports.
5.14 pm: Congress President and Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi takes oath.
5.11 pm: Navneet Kaur Rana, an independent MP from Amravati in Maharashtra says slogans of ‘Jai Sri Ram’ were raised in Parliament while members were taking oath. “This is not the right place, temples are there for it,” Rana told ANI. “All gods are same but targeting someone and taking that name, it’s wrong.
2.59 pm: Members from Gujarat begin taking the oath, reports The Hindu. The BJP won all 26 seats in the state.
2.55 pm: Congress President Rahul Gandhi says he will begin his “new innings” in the Parliament today. “My 4th consecutive term as a Member of the #LokSabha begins today,” he says on Twitter. “Representing Wayanad, Kerala, I begin my new innings in Parliament by taking my oath this afternoon, affirming that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India.”
2.40 pm: Members from the Nation Capital Territory of Delhi take oath, reports The Hindu. Manoj Tiwari is the first MP from the Capital to take oath. BJP’s Gautam Gambhir takes oath in English, while Meenakshi Lekhi takes oath in Sanskrit.
BJP MP Hans Raj Hans leaves out his name while taking the oath. He takes the oath again after fellow MP remind him.
2.32 pm: The Lok Sabha reassembles. Mahabali Singh of the Janata Dal (United) takes oath, reports The Hindu.
1.06 pm: New legislators are still taking oath in the Lok Sabha. The MPs have taken oath in various languages – Hindi, English, Sanskrit, Assamese, Dongri, Bhojpuri, Telugu and other tongues, The Hindu reports.
12.19 pm: No legislative business is expected to take place in Parliament on Monday, as President Ram Nath Kovind will address both Houses, The Hindu reports.
12.09 pm: BJP MP Anurag Thakur takes his oath in Hindi, The Hindu reports. Suresh Angadi takes oath in English, and Som Parkash in Punjabi.
12 noon: Rahul Gandhi is not in Parliament. He arrived at his residence in New Delhi, where Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi was holding a meeting with Haryana Congress leader Kuldeep Bishnoi, ANI reports.
11.46 am: Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Harsh Vardhan took oath in Sanskrit, ANI reports. Minister Jitendra Singh was sworn in in the Dogri language.
11.43 am: BJP’s Amethi MP Smriti Irani, who defeated Congress President Rahul Gandhi, takes oath as an MP, ANI reports.
11.33 am: Union Home Minister and BJP chief Amit Shah takes oath as a Lok Sabha member, ANI reports.
11.30 am: Karnataka BJP MP Tejasvi Surya calls Parliament a “great institution”, ANI reports. “It’s a great institution which has shaped country’s past, present and future,” he says. “I’m entering it with lot of gratitude for people who’ve elected me&also with sense of idealism to ensure Bharat Mata reaches pinnacle of glory which it’s destined to do.”
11.15 am: Modi, as well as other Union ministers, take oath as the members of the 17th Lok Sabha after the session began, ANI reports.
11 am: “The role of an Opposition and an active Opposition is important in a Parliamentary democracy,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi says ahead of the session. “The Opposition need not bother about their numbers. Every word the Opposition speaks is of value to us.”
He said that in Parliament, the distinction between the governing party and the Opposition should be forgotten, and work in the larger interest of the country. Modi implied that unfortunately, the contributions made by several capable MPs to Parliament proceedings do not make headlines in the media. He said that even intelligent criticism of the government by an Opposition MP, if it reaches the media, can promote the cause of democracy.
10.50 am: In a tweet, the prime minister hails the presence of a higher number of women MPs in Parliament. “My experience also suggests that when the Parliament functions smoothly, we are able to fulfil numerous aspirations of the people of India,” he adds.
10.41 am: Bharatiya Janata Party MP Virendra Kumar takes oath as the protem speaker of the Lok Sabha at the Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi ahead of the start of the Parliament session, PTI reports. He will oversee the oath-taking ceremonies of new Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs. Kumar will resign from his post after the Lok Sabha elects a new speaker.
10.31 am: Thawar Chand Gehlot, the leader of the BJP in the Rajya Sabha, has appealed for unity in Parliament prior to the start of the session. “I would request ruling party as well as opposition parties that any problem can be resolved through discussions,” he says. “So, during the session, parties should make an effort to find solutions.”
10.23 am: The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2019, is likely to be introduced during the Monsoon Session. The bill has caused much controversy, and the Congress and BJP ally Janata Dal (United) have stated their intention to oppose it.
The Centre will also introduce the The Aadhaar and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2019, based on the amendments in the ordinance President Ram Nath Kovind had promulgated on March 2. The government also has to seek the approval of Parliament for its proposal to extend President’s Rule in Jammu and Kashmir for six months.
The Economic Survey for 2018-’19 will be released on July 4, followed by the Union Budget on the next day.