Parliament Budget Session: BJP, Congress issue whip for MPs as Lok Sabha likely to take up notice against Speaker Om Birla | India News
New Delhi: The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition Congress on Friday issued three-line whips to their Lok Sabha MPs, ordering them to be present in the House from March 9 to 11 as the second phase of the budget session begins.The second phase of the session will run from March 9 to April 2. The House may take notice of opposition to the Speaker of the Lok Sabha. Om BirlaNews agency PTI reported that he has been removed from office.The first phase of the budget session ended on February 13 and was marked by heated exchanges over controversies surrounding the India-US Interim Trade Agreement and the unpublished memoirs of former army chief Manoj Mukund Naravaan.
The budget session began on January 28 with President Draupadi Murmu addressing a joint meeting of both houses. The session is scheduled for 30 meetings over 65 days and ends on April 2. The recess allows parliamentary standing committees to examine the grant claims of various ministries.In the first phase, Parliament mainly discussed the Union Budget for 2026-27 and the motion of thanks to the President’s address. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget in the Lok Sabha on February 1, marking her ninth consecutive budget.The House also witnessed sharp exchanges when Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi tried to quote from Naravaan’s unpublished memoirs during the debate on the motion of thanks, drawing strong objections from NDA MPs who argued that an unpublished work cannot be quoted in Parliament.Amidst the uproar, eight opposition MPs were suspended for the rest of the session for violating House rules and throwing papers on the chair after protests over the 2020 East Ladakh standoff with China.Despite repeated interruptions and chanting by opposition members, the Lok Sabha on February 5 passed the motion of thanks to the President’s address without Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s customary reply.Later, the Congress submitted a notice for a no-confidence motion against Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. In response, Birla said on moral grounds that he would not preside over the proceedings until the motion was settled.Meanwhile, polling for the Rajya Sabha biennial elections to fill 37 seats across 10 states is scheduled for March 16, with counting of votes to take place at 5 pm on the same day. The last date for filing nominations was Thursday, scrutiny is underway and candidates can withdraw nominations till March 9.
