PM Modi holds key meet with top ministers in Parliament

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with key government ministers in Parliament before the start of the day’s proceedings on Monday.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, I&B Minister Anurag Thakur, and others were present at the meeting. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) issued a three-line whip earlier today urging its MPs to be present in Rajya Sabha on Monday for the approval of critical Legislation in the Upper House, according to sources.

The Jammu and Kashmir Appropriation Bill 2023 and The Appropriation Bill 2023 have been listed for passage in Rajya Sabha by the government.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will introduce The Jammu and Kashmir Appropriation (No. 2) Bill 2023, which will authorise the payment and appropriation of certain sums from and out of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir’s Consolidated Fund for the fiscal year 2023-24. The Bill was enacted by the Lok Sabha last week without debate, despite much clamour in the Lower House.

Sitharaman will introduce the Jammu and Kashmir Appropriation Bill 2023, which would authorise the payment and appropriation of specified additional sums from and out of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir’s Consolidated Fund for the fiscal year 2022-23.

The Finance Minister will also introduce The Appropriation (No. 2) Bill 2023, which would authorise the payment and allocation of specified additional sums from and out of the Consolidated Fund of India for the fiscal year 2022-23. The Bill was also approved by the Lok Sabha without debate.

Nevertheless, the Lok Sabha cleared the Budget Bill 2023 with multiple formal modifications on March 24 amid the din produced by Opposition legislators who continued to demand a Joint Parliamentary Committee study into the Adani-Hindenburg dispute.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharman introduced 64 formal revisions to the Finance Bill, which was introduced in Parliament with the Budget proposals on February 1.

Meanwhile, opposition Lawmakers have dressed in black to protest the government’s handling of the Adani pipeline and Rahul Gandhi’s removal from the Lok Sabha. They also met at the chamber of LoP Mallikarjun Khargeji in the Parliament building.