A new V-P candidate, some bills, some protests: a day in Parliament
Facing him is the NDA's pick, Maharashtra Governor C.P. Radhakrishnan, a two-time former MP from Coimbatore and a former Tamil Nadu BJP president. His name was announced on Sunday (August 17), after an endorsement by the BJP Parliamentary Board.
Apart from this, Parliamentary proceedings on Tuesday followed a now familiar routine: protests by Opposition members over the special intensive revision of Bihar's electoral rolls, and the quick passing of bills with very little discussion.
The Rajya Sabha cleared the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2025, with Union Minister of Mines Kishan Reddy saying in his reply that the process for coal allocation and the working of the Mines Ministry have come a long way since 2014, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power. He detailed corruption in coal allocation during the previous UPA government, citing reports from the Comptroller Auditor-General (CAG) and Supreme Court judgements. He also highlighted an increase in private sector participation and ease of doing business, as well as a boost in production which saw India crossing the one billion tonne-mark for the first time.
Meanwhile, the Lok Sabha passed the Indian Institutes of Management (Amendment) Bill, 2025, which seeks to establish a new IIM in Guwahati. The House also resumed its special discussion on the first Indian abroad the International Space Station and India's space mission, even as protests continued to roil the House. BJP MP Nishikant Dubey said that Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla was not a BJP person, and that he represented the nation's 140 crore people as India's first astronaut abroad the ISS. He says he thought that Opposition would support PM Modi and show the world unity as far as space, defence, development and Viksit Bharat was concerned.
He linked the Opposition's current stance of protest to its previous actions pertaining to ISRO and the space mission, noting the 1994 arrest of noted scientist Nambi Narayanan on suspicions of espionage and saying that the then Congress government had colluded with China, Russia, US and Soros. He read out a section from a Supreme Court judgement directing Mr. Narayanan's release, which referred to the 'immense physical humiliation' and abuse suffered by a scientist of national repute. He also brought up a CAG report from 2012 which detailed corruption of more than Rs. 200 crore in the space sector. His speech was hindered by protests in the House, and proceedings soon adjourned.
Today, Union Home Minister Amit Shah is likely to introduce three new Bills in Lok Sabha which provide a legal framework for the removal of the Prime Minister, Union Ministers, Chief Ministers and Ministers in States and union territories who are 'arrested and detained in custody on account of serious criminal charges.' Also on the anvil is the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025.
We keep an eye on proceedings in both House of Parliament today as well. Follow along here.
Until next time.
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