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The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) held a parliamentary party meeting on Tuesday, marking the first meeting of the BJP in the second phase of the budget session of Parliament. During the meeting, BJP national president JP Nadda felicitated Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the victories in the recent elections in the northeast. This meeting takes place every Tuesday when the House is in session. Discussion on crucial issues including the recently passed Finance Bill and ongoing protests are likely to take place in this meeting.
The budgetary process in Parliament’s budget session was completed on Monday with the two Houses passing the Finance Bill 2023 amid vociferous protests by opposition members over their demand for a joint parliamentary probe into the Adani issue. The opposition members were also protesting against the disqualification of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi from Lok Sabha. Lok Sabha approved the Finance Bill 2023 which had an amendment from the bill approved by the House last week.
The bill with an amendment moved by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was passed earlier in the day by Rajya Sabha. The change related to Securities Transaction Tax levied on the sale of options trading. The government had said earlier that there was an inadvertent mistake in the STT charges on options. The bill had hiked STT on futures trading from 0.017 per cent to 0.021 per cent.
Lok Sabha passed the Finance Bill 2023 with 64 amendments on Friday amid din created by sloganeering by the Opposition parliamentarians who continued with their demand of a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the Adani-Hindenburg issue. Both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha faced adjournments on Monday, the 10th successive day of protest by the opposition parties over their demand. The Rajya Sabha passed five bills within minutes amid ruckus.
The opposition parties, who have been pressing a JPC probe into the Adani issue, had come out in support of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi following his disqualification from Lok Sabha last week. The parties held a black protest against the government on Monday. A meeting of opposition parties was held at the residence of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge in the evening. They decided to continue their ‘black’ protest on Tuesday against the BJP-led government over the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi and “trampling upon democracy in the country” and a final call will be taken in the morning, sources said.
Opposition members took out a march in the morning wearing black attire or bands as part of their protest. Days after his disqualification, Rahul Gandhi was sent notice by the Lok Sabha House Committee to vacate his official bungalow. The budget session of Parliament started on January 31, with the union budget presented on February 1. The second part of the Budget session has seen continuous disruptions over opposition demands. The BJP has been demanding an apology from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his remarks in the United Kingdom.