Both House of Parliament were adjourned sine die on Thursday, a day before the Budget Session was scheduled to end, reported ANI.
Rajya Sabha chairperson and Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu could not read out his customary closing remarks summing up the business conducted in the House amid protests by opposition MPs against rising fuel prices, reported PTI.
Shiv Sena MPs also wanted to raise the matter of a first information report registered against Bharatiya Janata Party’s Kirit Somaiya for allegedly siphoning off over Rs 57 crore collected from donations to restore aircraft carrier INS Vikrant. Trinamool Congress leaders protested saying that no discussion on inflation had been allowed during the entire session.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said that the Lower House held 27 sittings for 177 hours and 50 minutes, reported The Hindu.
The Budget Session was held in two parts. The first half began with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presenting the Union Budget 2022-’23 on February 1. It concluded on February 11.
The second half of the Budget Session resumed on March 14. Sitharaman had then presented the Budget for the Jammu and Kashmir, allotting Rs 1.42 lakh crore to the Union Territory.
The second half of the Budget Session saw protests from the Opposition over the steep increase in fuel prices after results of Assembly elections conducted in five states were declared on March 10. The MPs had staged protests after fuel prices were raised on March 22 after a 137-day hiatus.
Opposition leaders had alleged that fuel prices were not hiked earlier despite a substantial increase in global oil rate because elections were being held in Punjab, Goa, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Manipur.
They alleged the prices were increased after the results were declared. The Centre, however, had dismissed the charges, attributing the hike to the conflict in Ukraine.
Since the revision in fuel prices began, petrol and diesel rates have been increased by Rs 10 per litre.
On Wednesday, the Lok Sabha had passed the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, 2022, which proposes to enable police to collect biometric measurements of arrested or convicted prisoners.
The biometric measurements involve storing and analysing physical and biological samples, iris and retina scans, signatures and handwriting of prisoners. It would also be applied to persons detained under preventive detention laws.
Several members of the Opposition had opposed the law, demanding that the Bill be sent to a parliamentary standing or select committee for detailed discussion and improvement.
On Tuesday, the Rajya Sabha had also passed the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2022 to merge three civic bodies all of which are ruled by the BJP. The Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on March 30.
The three corporations are the North Delhi Municipal Corporation, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation and the East Delhi Municipal Corporation.
The Aam Aadmi Party has vehemently opposed the Bill saying that it was introduced by the Centre to postpone the civic elections in the national Capital that were scheduled for April.
AAP leaders said that the unification of municipal corporations could have been done in the last few years, as the BJP has been in power in the Centre since 2014. But, they claimed, the BJP is doing it now to postpone the elections because they know that they will not win.
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