No legislative business... again
In both Houses, Opposition members continued their protest against the Election Commission's SIR of electoral rolls in Bihar and demanded its rollback. The potential extension of the exercise to poll-bound States such as West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala next year is giving rise to even greater concern. Read more about what the Election Commission said about the SIR in its counter-affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, where a writ petition is challenging the constitutionality of this undertaking.
In the Rajya Sabha, discussion on a Bill- the Carriage of Goods by Sea Bill- progressed after a fashion in the post-lunch session, with AIADMK's M Thambidurai continuing his interrupted speech from the day before, and YSRCP's Ayodhya Rami Reddy rising to speak. Persistent din and sloganeering, however, led to the Chair Bhubaneshwar Kalita to adjourn proceedings shortly thereafter.
All notices under Rule 267, demanding discussions on various issues, were rejected by Deputy Chairman Harivansh. The Upper House also bid farewell to six members from Tamil Nadu — M.M. Abdullah, N. Chandrasekaran, Anbumani Ramadoss, M. Shanmugam, Vaiko and P Wilson — who are retiring. Further, Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam, known for handling the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack trials, took oath as a member of the Rajya Sabha. He was nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the President on July 13.
Meanwhile, the Lok Sabha's attempts to hold a discussion on the Scheduled Tribes (STs) in the Goa Legislative Assembly came to naught, with protests necessitating a quick end to proceedings.
Even as debate was stalled, some points of interest emerged from written replies to questions from Lok Sabha members. The National Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Hub Scheme, which seeks to encourage entrepreneurship among community members, benefited around 1.45 lakh individuals, as per a reply from Jitan Ram Manjhi, the Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises. The Minister also shared, in response to another question, that UP has more than 22 lakh women-led MSMEs, as per digital registration records. Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari stated in a written reply that the length of the National Highway network expanded from a little more than 91,000 km in March 2014 to 1.46 lakh km at present.
Progress is seemingly happening, at least on paper. It remains to be seen how this will be reflected in the day-to-day workings of the country, and more pertinently, in the day-to-day workings of Parliament.
Today, Home Minister Amit Shah is expected to move a resolution in the Rajya Sabha to extend President's Rule in Manipur for another six months. Follow along for live updates from Parliament here, as we keep an eye on both Houses.
Until next time.
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