Reportedly, 60 MPs from the opposition INDIA bloc have signed the motion. ..reports Asian Lite News
The Trinamool Congress moved a privilege motion on Thursday against Union Minister Kiren Rijiju in Rajya Sabha for calling opposition MPs “unworthy of the house”. The party accused Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju of “repeatedly insulting the Opposition members” instead of “doing his job of running Parliament smoothly”.
Reportedly, 60 MPs from the opposition INDIA bloc have signed the motion.
The privilege motion came after Rijiju said the Opposition is “not worthy” of being members of the House, while hitting out at opposition parties over their attacks on Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Wednesday.
Over Rijiju’s remarks, the party has called for an “unqualified apology”, adding his remarks against the Opposition should be expunged.
Meanwhile, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh on Thursday launched a scathing attack on the Rajya Sabha Chairman, accusing him of biased conduct and undermining the opposition in the upper house of Parliament.
Speaking to ANI, Ramesh expressed his dissatisfaction over the way opposition voices, particularly the Leader of the Opposition, have been treated during recent Parliamentary sessions.
“Even today we saw what was the need to bring a no-confidence motion against the Rajya Sabha chairman, the Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha was not allowed to speak in Parliament… This is an insult to the Leader of the Opposition and the Congress party,” Ramesh said.
The Congress leader specifically pointed to what he described as a blatant double standard in the chairmanship’s approach to proceedings.
” When the opposition raises an issue in Parliament, the Rajya Sabha chairman says nothing will go on record, but when the ruling party raises an issue it goes on record,” Ramesh explained.
He “condemned” the lack of impartiality and said that the ruling party MPs are given a “chance to speak in Parliament”, while the opposition is silenced. Ramesh further accused the ruling party of trying to divert attention from the Adani issue, calling their actions “baseless” and “misleading.”
“They want to divert attention from the Adani issue… They are making baseless comments about George Soros… We want Parliament to function,” Ramesh said.
Congress MP Syed Naseer Hussain claimed that Congress MPs were being prevented from raising peoples’ issues
“We are being prevented from raising people’s issues, our notices are being ignored and keeping all these things in mind, this motion has been brought and when the discussion will take place, we will put forward our views,” he said.
Meanwhile, leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha JP Nadda accused the Congress of hurting the democratic system by not letting the house function.
“Congress party wants to delay and divert the issues…The countrymen are very disturbed when they come to know that a person named George Soros wants to disturb the stability of the nation…The nation wants to know the relationship between Sonia Gandhi and George Soros…We will go amongst the public and raise this issue,” Nadda said.
LS to hold special discussion on Constitution
A special discussion on the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution will be held in Lok Sabha on Friday and Saturday with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh likely to initiate the debate.
The two-day debate is expected to begin at 12 noon on Friday. Over 12 leaders from the BJP are expected to take part in the debate. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will reply to the discussion on December 14 evening.
Leaders and members of parties in the ruling National Democratic Alliance including HD Kumaraswamy, Srikant Shinde, Shambhavi Chaudhary, Rajkumar Sangwan, Jiten Ram Manjhi, Anupriya Patel and Rajiv Ranjan Singh are also likely to speak during the debate.
Sources said leaders of BJP and its allies are likely to refer to Emergency and speak about the “fake narratives being peddled” by the opposition.
DMK leaders TR Balu and A Raja and Trinamool Congress MPs Kalyan Banerjee and Mohua Moitra are likely to take part in the debate.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress party have issued a ‘three line whip’ to ensure the presence of their members.
According to the sources, Home Minister Amit Shah will initiate the debate in the Rajya Sabha on December 16.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said that the Opposition wants the House to run and have a debate on 75 years of adoption of Constitution on December 13-14.
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LS passes Disaster Management Amendment Bill
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Rajya Sabha continued to witness disruptions on Thursday with BJP leaders slamming Congress for submitting a no-confidence motion against Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar and alleging links between Congress and American billionaire George Soros.
Lok Sabha passed the Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill, 2024 after a reply to the debate by Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai.
The minister said the Modi government has been providing all the necessary assistance to states which face any disaster. Rejecting criticism of the opposition parties, he said the impact of bill will be positive.
The bill seeks to strengthen the efficient working of the National Disaster Management Authority and the State Disaster Management Authorities.
It seeks to amend Disaster Management Act, 2005 and bring more clarity and convergence in the roles of Authorities and Committees working in the field of disaster management besides providing statutory status to certain pre-Act organisations like the National Crisis Management Committee and the High Level Committee.
The bill seeks to empower the National Disaster Management Authority and the State Disaster Management Authorities to prepare the disaster plan at national level and state level instead of the National Executive Committee and the State Executive Committee.
It provides for creation of disaster database at national and state level and make provision for constitution of “Urban Disaster Management Authority” for State Capital and large cities having Municipal Corporation.
The bill seeks to make provision for constitution of “State Disaster Response Force” by the State Government.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the game-changing provisions of the law will serve as a fresh impetus to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision to build a disaster-resilient India.
“Under the leadership of PM @narendramodi Ji, Bharat is advancing on the path of achieving zero casualties during disasters. In this direction, the Lok Sabha today passed the Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill, 2024. I extend my heartfelt gratitude to Modi Ji for this landmark move,” he said in a post on X.
“The game-changing provisions of the law will serve as a fresh impetus to Modi Ji’s vision to build a disaster-resilient Bharat by empowering our response forces to shield our citizens from any kind of calamity. The bill makes way for the security of every citizen by prioritizing a proactive approach to disaster management over a reactive one,” he added.
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