On Saturday, the Congress party issued a three-line whip to all its Members of Parliament (MPs), directing them to ensure their presence in Parliament for the final day of the ongoing budget session. A three-line whip is a stringent instruction mandating attendance and voting in accordance with the party’s stance, with potential serious consequences for non-compliance.
Ahead of today’s session, parliamentary leaders from the INDIA bloc are set to convene at the office of Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, within the Parliament premises.
Today marks the conclusion of the budget session, which is the final session of the current Lok Sabha before the upcoming general elections, anticipated to be held in April-May this year. Originally scheduled to end on February 9, the session has been extended by a day.
In parallel proceedings, Rajya Sabha is slated to hold a short-duration discussion on the White Paper released by the Centre and on the Pran Pratistha of Ram Lalla. BJP parliamentarians Sushil Kumar Modi and Prakash Javadekar will lead the discussion on the White Paper, highlighting its impact on the nation’s populace.
The nearly 60-page White Paper, presented in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha by Finance Minister Sitharaman, scrutinizes the economic policies of the previous UPA government. It accuses the UPA administration of neglecting reforms after assuming power in 2004, failing to capitalize on the groundwork laid by the earlier BJP-led NDA government.
Furthermore, the White Paper criticizes the UPA government for its alleged political interference in the commercial lending decisions of public sector banks, citing controversies such as the 2G spectrum scam, the coal gate scam, and the Common Wealth Games (CWG) as tarnishing India’s reputation as an investment destination.
As the budget session draws to a close, parliamentary proceedings are expected to be intense, with discussions centering on significant economic and political matters affecting the nation.
