New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his reply to a motion of thanks to the President’s address in the Lok Sabha on Thursday invoked former Congress prime ministers, including Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, to address the matter of frequent disruptions in Parliament.

Aadhaar Bill introduced in Lok Sabha

The Aadhaar bill was tabled in the Lok Sabha on Thursday. Expectations are that it will be a money bill, which essentially means that Rajya Sabha will not be able to exercise its now customary veto to legislations moved by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Of course, this assumes the Speaker endorses the government move.

In other major developments on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is addressing Parliament. He is replying to the debate on the President’s address to Parliament.

Also, Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) president Kanhaiya Kumar will be released on Thursday, after he was granted bail on Wednesday. However, the Delhi Police have not taken a call on whether to provide security cover to Kumar once he is out of jail, given the threat he faces, reports The Hindu.

In other news, corruption is back on the national political agenda as the Aircel-Maxis deal continued to feature prominently in Parliament for the second day in a row. Regional parties like the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (AIADMK), Biju Janata Dal (BJD) as well as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) targeted former finance minister P. Chidambaram’s son Karti Chidambaram for his alleged involvement. These parties have demanded an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the scam. Read more here

The multi-crore corruption scandal was first exposed by The Pioneer. Read more here about Karti’s investment in real estates and other business activities in about 14 countries.

The issue is being raised at a time when five states are set to go to polls in the next two months, one of which is Tamil Nadu, the home state of Chidambaram. The Election Commission will soon announce the dates for elections in Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Puducherry. Deccan Chronicle had last week reported that the Election Commission (EC) has wrapped up its three-month-long consultation and preparation exercise for conducting the polls on 24 February and elections will be announced anytime soon. Another report by Times of India said that the EC was expected to announce the dates for Tamil Nadu’s election later this week.

Talking of poll-bound states, the Congress party has started its preparation early in the crucial election-bound state of Uttar Pradesh. On Wednesday, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi held a meeting of party leaders from the state to discuss the strategy for state polls. Read here

Gandhi also weighed in on the ongoing debate in Parliament on the President’s address. In a speech laced with occasional humour, Gandhi targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi, claiming that he had lost touch with the people. Read more

Finally, Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) president Kanhaiya Kumar, got an interim bail late on Wednesday evening. Kumar last month was arrested on sedition charges, which triggered a political backlash by members of the opposition parties as well as rights groups opposing the move. The court on Wednesday agreed that he can have any political affiliation or ideology and that he has every right to pursue it, however, “it can be only within the framework of our Constitution". Read more

To know more about this PhD scholar, read ‘Who is Kanhaiya Kumar’.

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