Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, who came out of Tihar jail after being granted bail in the INX Media money laundering case will attend Rajya Sabha proceedings today along with a a press conference. While talking to the media he said that the government cannot suppress his voice in the Parliament.
Parliament Winter Session 2019 Live
Earlier on Wednesday, soaring onion prices rocked the parliament proceedings. Congress had attacked the government over high onion prices and accused the BJP members of creating a ruckus in order to prevent a discussion on the important issue. The finance minister told Lok Sabha that the government was trying to mitigate the onion crisis by implementing several measures.
Reacting to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s remark on onions, he asked, “Finance Minister said yesterday that she doesn’t eat onions. So what does she eat? Does she eat avocado?” Reportedly, Chidambaram’s reaction came a day after Sitharaman told the Lok Sabha that she belongs to a family “that has little to do with onions”.
Apart from the onion price issue, the Union Cabinet, on Wednesday, also cleared the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 that aims to grant Indian citizenship to non-Muslim illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Bill, however, grants an exemption to a large part of the North East region from the applicability of the proposed law.
Modi govt clueless on the economy, says P Chidambaram
According to the Bill cleared by the Cabinet, states in the North East region that have Inner Line Permit (ILP) regime and tribal areas that have been notified under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution shall be out of the purview of the proposed Act.
On the other hand, the Rajya Sabha passed the National Capital Territory of Delhi (Recognition of Property Rights of Residents in Unauthorised Colonies) Bill, 2019 on Wednesday, paving the way to give property rights to nearly 40 lakh people living in 1,731 unauthorised colonies in Delhi. Reportedly, the Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha last week.
Meanwhile, listed business in Parliament includes the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2019. The Rajya Sabha is expected to take that up.
Parliament Winter Session Live Updates
At 10:33 AM, P Chidambaram reaches Parliament.
At 10 :40 AM, Congress and Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) have given Adjournment Motion Notice in Lok Sabha over ‘incident of killing of ITBP personnel’ and Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019.
Meanwhile, several Congress leaders protested in the Parliament over the rising onion prices.
At 11:00 AM, the Congress Chief Whip in Lok Sabha, Kodikunnil Suresh has given Adjournment Motion Notice on ‘tariff hike by Telecom Companies.’
At 11:04 AM, the Lok Sabha discusses the utilisation of water resources in Question Hour.
Meanwhile at 11:10 AM, on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, BSP chief Mayawati said, “Party is against the current form of the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB). The government should reconsider aspects of the Bill and it should be sent to parliamentary committee.”
At 11:46 AM, the Rajya Sabha Chairperson M Venkaiah Naidu had to adjourn the proceedings of the House after uproar by Opposition leaders. Naidu earlier read out the names of 18 MPs who had 100 percent attendance in the House.
At 12:49 PM, while addressing his first press conference after coming out of jail, former Finance Minister P Chidambaram slammed the Modi government over the state of country’s economy. He said, “Govt. is clueless on economy; It is stubborn, mulish in defending catastrophic mistakes like demonetisation, flawed GST. PM has been unusually silent on economy, has left it to his ministers to indulge in bluff and bluster. Economy can be brought out of slowdown, but this government incapable of doing that.”
Former Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram has said that the Congress is better equipped to pull economy out of slowdown. ‘…but we have to wait for better times,’ Chidambaram said during a press conference in Delhi, adding, “Economic slowdown is a man-made catastrophe”.
He also added that his first prayers for people of Kashmir who have been denied basic freedom and said, “I intend to visit J&K if govt. allows.”
