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Lok Sabha
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha Chairman C P Radhakrishnan on Monday rejected separate notices from the opposition to move a motion for the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar from his post. The opposition had submitted notices to the Lok Sabha speaker and the Rajya Sabha chairman against the CEC, alleging "partisan and discriminatory conduct in office", "deliberate obstruction of investigation of electoral fraud" and "mass disenfranchisement" among other charges. In separate orders, the Speaker and the Rajya Sabha Chairman refused to admit the notices moved under Article 324(5) of the Constitution, read with other relevant constitutional and statutory provisions, praying for the removal of Gyanesh Kumar as the Chief Election Commissioner. "After due consideration of the notice of Motion and a careful and objective assessment of all relevant aspects and issues involved, the Chairman, Rajya Sabha, in exercise of the powers vested to him under Section 3 of
The Congress on Sunday launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the proposal to increase Lok Sabha seats, saying he is "bulldozing" the move that will work more to the benefit of larger and populous states and is nothing but a "Weapon of Mass Distraction (WMD)". The opposition party also alleged that the prime minister is "hoodwinking" the people of the country and is making misleading statements that are meant to deceive. In a post on X, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said, "The PM is upto his usual tricks of making misleading statements that are meant to deceive. He says South Indian states will not be hurt in any way if the strength of the Lok Sabha is increased by 50% and the number of seats of each state in the Lok Sabha is also increased by 50%." "This is hoodwinking the people of the country in which the PM has unique expertise," Ramesh said. For example, the difference between UP's and Kerala's seats in the Lok Sabha
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said the government is bent on legally perpetuating the injustice of discrimination against Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) jawans through a bill, and asserted that his party will repeal such a "discriminatory law" when it comes to power. The Leader of Opposition said he wanted to speak on the bill in Lok Sabha and had requested the government to make adjustments as he was touring Assam but it refused as it "does not want me to speak on this in Parliament". "But I want to tell all the paramilitary forces -- CRPF, BSF, CISF and ITBP -- that the Congress is standing with them and will protect them," Gandhi said in a video statement. Gandhi' remarks came a day after the Rajya Sabha passed the Central Armed Police Forces (General Administration) Bill, 2026, with a voice vote amid an Opposition walkout. The bill is listed for being taken up in the Lok Sabha on Thursday. In his video statement, Gandhi recalled that he recently met Assistant ...
The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed a bill to amend certain provisions in different laws for decriminalising and rationalising minor offences to further promote ease of doing business and living. The Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2026, was passed with a voice vote. The bill proposes to amend 784 provisions of 79 Central Acts administered by 23 ministries. It seeks to decriminalise 717 provisions and amend 67 provisions to facilitate ease of living. It also seeks to rationalise more than 1,000 offences, removing outdated and redundant provisions, thereby improving the overall regulatory environment. Replying to the debate on the bill, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said it will help people and MSMEs. Amendments moved by Congress member K Kavya were rejected by voice vote.
A bill seeking to recognise Amaravati as the sole and permanent capital of Andhra Pradesh was passed by the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, with the Congress, the BJP as well as the TDP expressing support for it. The bill, which will scuttle any future bid to alter the decision of making Amaravati the sole and permanent capital, was passed in the Lok Sabha by a voice vote. Initiating the debate on the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2026, in Lok Sabha, Congress member Manickam Tagore said the Congress fully supports the legislation but wants according of special status to Andhra Pradesh, which is the successor state of the erstwhile undivided Andhra Pradesh following the creation of Telangana. "Let Amaravati develop like Bangalore, Chennai or Hyderabad. Let Vishakhapatnam, Tirupati, Kurnool also develop. We support Amaravati as the permanent capital of Andhra Pradesh," he said. Participating in the debate, TDP member and Union Minister of State for Rural Development and ...
The Congress on Wednesday claimed that the Modi government is proposing to "bulldoze" a bill to increase the size of the Lok Sabha by 50 per cent with the number of seats allocated to each state also to be increased by 50 per cent, and said such a move would "disadvantage" smaller states in the South, Northeast and West. There was no official word on the Opposition party's claims. Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has already raised an alarm over the issue and others may very well follow as this proposal becomes officially public. "The Modi government is proposing to bulldoze a Bill to increase the size of the Lok Sabha by 50%. The number of seats allocated to each state is also proposed to be increased by 50%," Ramesh claimed on X. The argument that a 50 per cent increase in seats across-the-board is equitable is deceptive, he said. Proportions may not change for the present but there are deeper ...
The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed the Finance Bill 2026, along with 32 government amendments. With the passage of the Finance Bill 2026, the Lok Sabha completed its part of the Budgetary approval process. The Upper House, Rajya Sabha, will now consider the Bill. After the Rajya Sabha approves the Bill, the Budget process for 2026-27 will be complete. The Union Budget 2026-27 envisages a total expenditure of Rs 53.47 lakh crore, an increase of 7.7 per cent over the current fiscal ending March 31. The total capital expenditure proposed for the next fiscal is Rs 12.2 lakh crore. It proposes a gross tax revenue collection of Rs 44.04 lakh crore and a gross borrowing of Rs 17.2 lakh crore. The fiscal deficit for FY27 is projected at 4.3 per cent of GDP, lower than 4.4 per cent in the current fiscal.
A bill to amend the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, with the government making it clear that individuals engaging in forced religious conversion through foreign funding will not be spared. Introducing the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai stated that the legislation aims to enhance transparency and ensure proper utilisation of funds received from abroad. Countering the opposition's charges that the bill is "dangerous", Rai asserted that it is "indeed dangerous" for those who engage in forced religious conversion using foreign contributions, as well as to individuals who abuse foreign funding for personal gain. "The Modi government will not tolerate any misutilisation of foreign funding and will take strong action against such elements," he said. Earlier, opposing the introduction of the legislation, Congress member Manish Tewari said that the bill would give ...
The government is unlikely to immediately bring a bill to increase Lok Sabha seats to 816 so that 273 of them could be reserved for women in the ongoing Parliament session, which may be adjourned early but will not be prorogued to keep open the option of reconvening after the upcoming round of assembly elections, according to sources. The sources indicated that there is very little chance of the government tabling the constitution amendment bill that will tweak the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, commonly known as the women's reservation law, in Parliament in the next few days. It is learnt that there was no proposal till Tuesday evening to bring the draft bill before the Union Cabinet, which is scheduled to meet on Wednesday. "There are requirements of seeking further deliberations with all political parties before finalising a schedule for amending the women's reservation law," a source privy to the development said. Union Home Minister Amit Shah had on Monday discussed the matter
The Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed a bill to amend a law on protection and rights of transgender persons, which seeks to exclude social orientations from the ambit of the statute and provides for graded punishment based on the gravity of harm inflicted on such people. Responding to the debate on the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill, 2026, Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Virendra Kumar said the proposed legislation aims to provide protection to only those who face boycott due to biological issues. He asserted that the amendment will ensure that transgender persons continue to get legal recognition and protection. Kumar said while the 2019 law had a provision for a maximum of two years of imprisonment, the amendment bill provides for a maximum of 14 years in jail with a penalty. Before the passage of the bill, the House also rejected amendments moved by opposition members by a voice vote. While the government said the objective is to provide protection
Union Minister of State for Education Jayant Chaudhary on Monday said the National Education Policy (NEP) does not impose one language, including Hindi, on any state, rather it "explicitly promotes multilingualism". Responding to supplementary questions in Lok Sabha during the Question Hour, the minister noted that while Tamil Nadu has expressed some objection to the NEP 2020, the central government has released Rs 538 crore to the state under the Samagra Shiksha, a flagship central school education programme. "It is up to the state to follow established procedure and protocol in terms of expenditure, in terms of provision of UC (utilisation certificate) for further release," Chaudhary said. The minister said there was "absolutely no imposition of any language." "The three languages, as proposed in the NEP, align with the two-language formula... There is complete flexibility. There is no imposition of any language, including Hindi. It is up to the state to implement in toto." The
The Lok Sabha on Monday referred the Corporate Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, to a joint parliamentary committee comprising members from both Houses of Parliament for a detailed analysis and recommendations. The decision was taken following a voice vote after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman suggested it. Earlier, after the Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha, opposition members Manish Tewari (Congress), Saugata Roy (Trinamool Congress) and T Sumathy (DMK) strongly opposed it, alleging that the legislation sought to dilute the provisions of law under which companies mandatorily have to pay 2 per cent of their profits towards corporate social responsibility (CSR). The finance minister strongly refuted the allegations and said that the Bill has been introduced after two years of deliberations. She said the apprehensions of the members were unfounded as the Bill seeks to amend only the criteria of net profits, not the entire clause related to CSR. Sitharaman then suggested to Speaker O