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Informist, Friday, Apr. 4, 2025

 

NEW DELHI - The Budget session of Parliament, which witnessed overnight sittings in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha and passage of 16 bills, including the Finance Bill 2025 and the Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2025, was adjourned sine die on Friday on a sour note. On the last day of the session, proceedings were disrupted by ruling Bharatiya Janata Party members, and both Houses were adjourned without transacting any business. 

 

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju termed the session very successful and thanked all the parties for the smooth functioning of both the Houses. The minister said one important milestone that was achieved in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday was that the House sat for over 17 hours to discuss the Waqf Amendment Bill 2025.

 

"...we created a new record - we discussed for 17 hours and 2 minutes in Rajya Sabha. It seems extremely difficult to break this record. There was not a single disruption during the discussion over the Waqf amendment Bill," the minister said. 

 

The session commenced on Jan 31 with President Droupadi Murmu's address to both Houses. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Budget for  2025-26 (Apr-March) on Feb. 1. 

 

Both houses were adjourned for recess on Feb. 13, to reassemble on Mar. 10 to enable department-related standing committees to examine and report on the Demands for Grants relating to various ministries. Throughout the Budget session, there were a total of 26 sittings.

 

The crucial pieces of legislation passed during the session include the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2025, the Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill, 2025, the Appropriation Bill, 2025, the Finance Bill 2025, the Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2025, the Coastal Shipping Bill, 2025, and the Protection of Interests in Aircraft Objects Bill, 2025.

 

Apart from the 16 bills, both the Houses also adopted a statutory resolution approving President's rule in Manipur during overnight sittings. Opposition parties criticised the government for moving the resolution during the wee hours. The proclamation was issued by the president on Feb. 13. 

 

Meanwhile, opposition parties charged the government for bulldozing voices of dissent. The Congress party said BJP members disrupted the proceedings of the House. 

 

"What we as opposition are supposed to do, the BJP members have been doing in the house. This is for the first time in the history of parliamentary democracy, the ruling party members have been indulged in house disruptions," Congress leader Pramod Tiwari said, calling the BJP fascist. 

 

During the session, opposition members protested in both Houses, demanding discussion on various issues, including duplication of voter identity cards, deaths at the Mahakumbh, tariffs announced by the US on Indian goods, and a scheduled delimitation exercise. The session saw Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam members protesting against the scheduled delimitation, alleging this would reduce the representation of southern states in Parliament. Members of the Trinamool Congress members raised the matter of voter card duplication in the House, while Samajwadi Party members demanded discussion on deaths at the Mahakumbh.  End

 

Reported by Kuldeep Singh

Edited by Avishek Dutta

 

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