Parliament Session Live Updates | MSP Has Become 'Maximum Suffering For Farmers' Under Modi Govt: Randeep Surjewala in RS

Minimum support price (MSP) has become 'maximum suffering' for farmers under Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government and the Budget 2024-25 has failed to address issues of people involved in farm activities, Congress Rajya Sabha member Randeep Singh Surjewala said on Thursday. Taking part in the discussion on the Union Budget, he said the budget is an attempt to save the coalition government, appease allies and take revenge for defeat.

When the finance minister began the budget speech with three words -- farmers, poor and youth -- the whole nation was filled with expectations but within minutes it was clear that this budget is "kursi bachao, sahiyogi dal patao, aur har ka badla lete jao budget" (save the government, appease allies and take revenge for defeat), the Congress leader said.

Sougata Ray, Trinamool Congress MP from Dum Dum lashed out at the government saying this budget was for the poor people to look at Mumbai, where stars descend for a wedding. He also said that current Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was no great economist like former Prime Minister and Finance Minister Dr Manmohan Singh.

BJP Rajya Sabha MP Medha Vishram Kulkarni made her maiden speech in the Upper House of the Parliament. "This budget has made adequate provisions for all the state," Kulkarni said. She said that 15,940 crore have been allocated for Railways in Maharashtra.

Lok Sabha Adjourned Till 3 PM Amid War Of Words Between Treasury, Opposition Benches.

Lok Sabha has been adjourned till 2 PM after a ruckus triggered by a verbal spat between Congress MP from Jalandhar Charanjit Channi and BJP's Ravneet Bittu over certain personal remarks. Participating in a debate on a discussion on the Union Budget, Channi referred to the assassination of Bittu's grandfather, former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh. This led to a war of words between Bittu, who recently quit the Congress to join the BJP, and Channi. Bittu, the Minister of State for Railways and Food Processing Industries, countered by making certain personal remarks against Channi and former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, triggering an uproar. BJP member Sandhya Ray, who was in the chair, adjourned the proceedings for 30 minutes till 2 pm.

Saket Gokhale (AITC) threatened to walk out of Rajya Sabha after having an argument with Forests Minister Bhupendra Yadav over a question on dwindling forest cover. The minister, in reply, asks Saket to check his numbers. "If he doesn't have an answer, he should say he doesn't have an answer..." Saket responds. There was a flurry of cross-talk between the two, during which RS Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said Saket needed "hand-holding", a comment that did not go down well with the AITC MP, who then decided to walk out, but eventually stayed put.

Kangana Ranaut, Bollywood Actor and BJP MP from Himachal Pradesh's Mandi spoke in Lok Sabha on Thursday, highlighting the Himachal art forms that, she claimed, were on the verge of becoming extinct. It was Ranaut's first question in the house after being elected from Mandi earlier this year. "I want to know what steps are being taken to encourage such art forms," she asked. She also spoke of tribal art forms and traditional music and sought to know what was being done to safeguard and encourage the same.

AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh asks a question on whether the government has any plans to have reservations in the judiciary as well. Arjun Ram Meghwal (MoS Law) responds, saying the constituent assembly discussed the issue in 2018 and decided not to have such reservations. Modi government, however, encourages social diversity in the judiciary and wishes to see people from backward areas and SC/ST becoming judges, he said.

TDP MP and Union Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu on Thursday said "Airways is the new railways of the country" as he was replying to a question in Lok Sabha on long-pending works at Vijayawada International Airport.

The work, he said, started in June 2020 with an estimated cost was Rs 611 crores but was delayed due to Covid and other "external factors". "We have taken it up as our top priority and the new deadline is June 2025," he said.

The project involves the construction of an integrated terminal at the airport. The project has encountered multiple delays and missed several completion dates. Meanwhile, on a question seeking flight connectivity from Vijayawada to Kolkata and Varanasi and additional flights between Visakhapatnam and Delhi, the minister said the demands were similar to those made for railways a few decades ago.

The minister said a huge push has been given to the civil aviation ministry. "If you go back 10 or 20 years, it was similar to railways where people used to seek railway stops and platforms...now the same is being expected of airways. Airways is the new railways of the country and I'm very proud of it," the minister said.

Proceedings have begun in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha today. Shortly before the discussion on the Budget started, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju urged MPs in Lok Sabha not to resort to insult and disrupt the Parliamentary proceedings.

"No member should resort to using unparliamentary language. Honourable Speaker has the right to take appropriate action against any MP who uses such language. I don't want to go into who provoked whom. I just want to state that the Honourable Speaker has the authority to take action," Rijiju said.

Minimum support price (MSP) has become 'maximum suffering' for farmers under Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government and the Budget 2024-25 has failed to address issues of people involved in farm activities, Congress Rajya Sabha member Randeep Singh Surjewala said on Thursday. Taking part in the discussion on the Union Budget, he said the budget is an attempt to save the coalition government, appease allies and take revenge for defeat.

When the finance minister began the budget speech with three words -- farmers, poor and youth -- the whole nation was filled with expectations but within minutes it was clear that this budget is "kursi bachao, sahiyogi dal patao, aur har ka badla lete jao budget" (save the government, appease allies and take revenge for defeat), the Congress leader said.

Sougata Ray, Trinamool Congress MP from Dum Dum lashed out at the government saying this budget was for the poor people to look at Mumbai, where stars descend for a wedding. He also said that current Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was no great economist like former Prime Minister and Finance Minister Dr Manmohan Singh.

BJP Rajya Sabha MP Medha Vishram Kulkarni made her maiden speech in the Upper House of the Parliament. "This budget has made adequate provisions for all the state," Kulkarni said. She said that 15,940 crore have been allocated for Railways in Maharashtra.

Lok Sabha Adjourned Till 3 PM Amid War Of Words Between Treasury, Opposition Benches.

Lok Sabha has been adjourned till 2 PM after a ruckus triggered by a verbal spat between Congress MP from Jalandhar Charanjit Channi and BJP's Ravneet Bittu over certain personal remarks. Participating in a debate on a discussion on the Union Budget, Channi referred to the assassination of Bittu's grandfather, former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh. This led to a war of words between Bittu, who recently quit the Congress to join the BJP, and Channi. Bittu, the Minister of State for Railways and Food Processing Industries, countered by making certain personal remarks against Channi and former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, triggering an uproar. BJP member Sandhya Ray, who was in the chair, adjourned the proceedings for 30 minutes till 2 pm.

Saket Gokhale (AITC) threatened to walk out of Rajya Sabha after having an argument with Forests Minister Bhupendra Yadav over a question on dwindling forest cover. The minister, in reply, asks Saket to check his numbers. "If he doesn't have an answer, he should say he doesn't have an answer..." Saket responds. There was a flurry of cross-talk between the two, during which RS Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said Saket needed "hand-holding", a comment that did not go down well with the AITC MP, who then decided to walk out, but eventually stayed put.

Kangana Ranaut, Bollywood Actor and BJP MP from Himachal Pradesh's Mandi spoke in Lok Sabha on Thursday, highlighting the Himachal art forms that, she claimed, were on the verge of becoming extinct. It was Ranaut's first question in the house after being elected from Mandi earlier this year. "I want to know what steps are being taken to encourage such art forms," she asked. She also spoke of tribal art forms and traditional music and sought to know what was being done to safeguard and encourage the same.

AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh asks a question on whether the government has any plans to have reservations in the judiciary as well. Arjun Ram Meghwal (MoS Law) responds, saying the constituent assembly discussed the issue in 2018 and decided not to have such reservations. Modi government, however, encourages social diversity in the judiciary and wishes to see people from backward areas and SC/ST becoming judges, he said.

TDP MP and Union Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu on Thursday said "Airways is the new railways of the country" as he was replying to a question in Lok Sabha on long-pending works at Vijayawada International Airport.

The work, he said, started in June 2020 with an estimated cost was Rs 611 crores but was delayed due to Covid and other "external factors". "We have taken it up as our top priority and the new deadline is June 2025," he said.

The project involves the construction of an integrated terminal at the airport. The project has encountered multiple delays and missed several completion dates. Meanwhile, on a question seeking flight connectivity from Vijayawada to Kolkata and Varanasi and additional flights between Visakhapatnam and Delhi, the minister said the demands were similar to those made for railways a few decades ago.

The minister said a huge push has been given to the civil aviation ministry. "If you go back 10 or 20 years, it was similar to railways where people used to seek railway stops and platforms...now the same is being expected of airways. Airways is the new railways of the country and I'm very proud of it," the minister said.

Proceedings have begun in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha today. Shortly before the discussion on the Budget started, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju urged MPs in Lok Sabha not to resort to insult and disrupt the Parliamentary proceedings.

"No member should resort to using unparliamentary language. Honourable Speaker has the right to take appropriate action against any MP who uses such language. I don't want to go into who provoked whom. I just want to state that the Honourable Speaker has the authority to take action," Rijiju said.