Parliament adjourned sine die amid ruckus over bounty row

Both houses of the Parliament have been adjourned sine die amid ruckus over BJP's youth wing leader Yogesh Varshney's comments offering a reward of Rs. 11 lakh for West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's head.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi disowned Varshney's comments in Parliament.

"I condemn this type of statement. The state government can take proper action," he said.

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders raised the issue in the Rajya Sabha, which garnered support from other parties as well. Samajwadi Party's Rajya Sabha MP Jaya Bachchan expressed anguish on the BJP leader's remark, stating that the saffron party was keen on protecting cows but not women.

TMC's Saugata Roy also strongly condemned the BJP leader's statement urging strong action against people who make such provocations.

Varshney, a member of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, issued the outrageous threat while hitting out at the TMC supremo over police action on a rally held on Sunday to mark Hanuman Jayanti in Birbhum, around 180 km from Kolkata.

Today was the last day of the Budget Session of Parliament. The first half of the session was held from January 31 to February 9 and the second half of the session began after a month-long recess on March 9.

During the session, the Lok Sabha has passed 21 bills and the Rajya Sabha 14 bills. They include the Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Bill, the Mental Health Care Bill, the Maternity Benefits (Amendment) Bill, the Payment of Wages (Amendment) Bill, 2017 and the crucial four supporting bills for the roll out of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Scrapping a colonial-era tradition of presenting the Budget at the end of February, the government for the first time in the history of independent India presented the annual accounts on February 1.

The legislative process of getting approvals for demands for grants, general Budget as well as taxation proposals contained in the Finance Bill 2017 were all completed by March 30. For the first-time ever, the annual Budget together with taxation proposals came into effect from the first day of the financial year.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday described the Budget Session as a winner for the treasury benches. He said that the government was able to secure passage of many key bills in the Parliament.

The first part of the Budget Session was very productive as Lok Sabha functioned 113 percent while Rajya Sabha 97 percent.

The productivity in the second half of the budget session so far for the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha has been 112 percent and 87 percent respectively.