'Pakoda politics' still on; impasse in Houses of Parliament continues

Neither of the two Houses of Parliament could transact any business for a third day in a row.

Last Updated : Mar 08 2018 | 12:03 AM IST

More on pakoda politics

Looks like pakodas are the newest symbol of pride, protest and polemics. Haryana Congress MLAs held a protest this week by selling pakodas from a rehri (cart) on a road near the state Assembly complex and tore into the Centre and Haryana government's track record in employment generation. Unperturbed, state Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar bought some pakodas from the protesting MLAs and “appreciated” the fact that people who had become unemployed, had finally found work. “If someone is getting employment by selling pakodas, that's a good thing,” he said.

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In the 2018 Union Budget, the government provided short-term and long-term capital gains tax exemption to International Financial Services Centre (IFSC). Experts say the tax leeway will bring IFSCs on a par with friendly global jurisdictions such as Singapore and Dubai. India’s first and only IFSC Gift City is situated in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, a dry state. “Most tax issues have been taken care of by the government. We are hopeful the government will soon allow alcohol in Gift City,” said an industry player operating there.

The impasse continues

Neither of the two Houses of Parliament could transact any business for a third day in a row. Several members of the Rajya Sabha disregarded Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu's suggestion that they must not display placards and banners in the House. All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam members entered the well of the House demanding a management board for Cauvery water, while the Telugu Desam Party (TPD) continued to ask for a special package for Andhra Pradesh. The Congress and other Opposition parties demanded a discussion on the Punjab National Bank fraud case. AIADMK and DMK members raised placards and banners. MPs of arch-rivals DMK and AIADMK as well as rivals TDP and YSR Congress Party kept all their placards and banners stacked side by side, atop a cupboard in the Rajya Sabha lobby, when it was time to disperse