Rahul Gandhi criticised the Union Budget on Thursday in his first speech of the current Lok Sabha. Rahul Gandhi said that the NDA government at the Centre hasn’t done enough for farmers and the country is going through an agrarian crisis. The Congress leader was speaking on the death of a farmer on Wednesday in Kerala’s Wayanad, his constituency. Former finance minister P Chidambaram also trained his guns on the Budget and the state of the Indian economy. He said political instability will have impact in the economy.

The Government told the Parliament that piped water will reach every rural household by 2024. Union Minister GL Shekhawat told that water in more than a thousand blocks have been over exploited, in the wake of the severe water crisis in southern and western India.

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2:30 pm IST Political instability will have an impact on economy, says P Chidambaram Accusing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of creating political instability in states like Karnataka and Goa, former Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Thursday said that instability will have an impact on the economy and deter foreign investors. Participating in the debate on Union Budget 2019-20 in Rajya Sabha, he said: “What we’ve seen in Karnataka and Goa may appear to be political upmanship but it has a very damaging effect on the economy. Foreign investors, rating agencies, international organisations don’t follow Indian media. What they hear and read on political instability will have an impact on the economy.”





2:20 pm IST ‘Govt trying to sell railway assets through PPPs, privatisation’ : Congress in LS Slamming the Modi government over its handling of the Railways Ministry, the Congress Wednesday accused it of trying to sell out railway assets and said the BJP-led NDA is “selling dreams” to people without doing much on the ground. Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said in the Lok Sabha that the aviation minister wants to sell Air India, the railways minister wants to “sell” its assets and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he alleged, will one day “sell” country. Initiating a debate on demands for grants under the Ministry of Railways, Chowdhury said the BJP-led NDA government has consistently failed to meet its targets since it came to power in 2014.





2:06 pm IST Any attempt to privatise Indian Railways will be resisted by TN: Kanimozhi “I would like to tell the government that any attempt to corporatise/privatise Indian Railways or the Salem Steel Plant will be resisted by the people of Tamil Nadu, DMK & my leader MK Stalin,” said Kanimozhi, DMK in Lok Sabha.





1:10 pm IST Water in 1,186 blocks ‘over-exploited’: Govt tells LS Ground water levels in various parts of the country are declining because of continuous withdrawal and 1,186 blocks have been categorised as ‘over- exploited’, Lok Sabha was informed on Thursday. Union minister for Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat also said as announced in the Union Budget, it has been envisaged to ensure piped water supply to all rural households by 2024 under the Jal Jeevan Mission.





1:00 pm IST Congress walks out of Lok Sabha over Karnataka, Goa Congress members on Thursday walked out of the Lok Sabha over the political situation in Karnataka and Goa where many of its MLAs have either quit the House or joined the BJP. The House was plunged into uproar when a Congress request to raise the issue during Zero Hour was not allowed by Speaker Om Birla. The agitated Congress MPs then trooped out of the House. This was the party’s third walkout in as many days.





12:35 pm IST Govt preparing Rs 14k project to identify accident black spots A Rs 14,000 crore project has been prepared by the government to identify accident black spots and plug gaps in highways to reduce casualties, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said in Lok Sabha on Thursday. Gadkari said the Ministry of Finance has given its in- principle approval to the project and his Ministry has approached the World Bank to implement it.





12:27 pm IST Congress stages walkout from RS over Goa crisis The Congress staged walkout from the Rajya Sabha over Goa crisis.





12:25 pm IST P Chidambaram on unemployment “Gravity of unemployment can be looked by only 1 ex- for 62,907 khalasi posts,82 lakhs people applied,4,19,137 of them were BTech graduates & 40,751 had Masters in Engineering.This is the economy you inherited. I don’t blame her for that,” said P Chidambaram during discussion in Rajya Sabha on Budget:





12:10 pm IST Farmers suicide on the rise: Rahul Gandhi “Yesterday,a farmer in Wayanad committed suicide due to debt. In Wayanad, bank notices for non payment of loans given to 8000 farmers. Under a relevant act their properties are attached against their bank loans, this is resulting in rise in farmers suicide,” said Rahul Gandhi.





12:08 pm IST No concrete steps in Budget for relief to farmers: Rahul Gandhi “The farmers in the country are suffering. I would like to draw the govt’s attention towards it. No concrete steps were taken in the Union Budget to provide relief to the farmers,” said Rahul Gandhi in the Lower House of the Parliament.





12:06 pm IST Rahul Gandhi speaks in Lok Sabha “Why does the government behave as if the farmers are inferior to the poor. No efforts have been made in the Budget 2019 to for the benefit farmers,” said Rahul Gandhi in the Lok Sabha.





11:10 am IST BSP MP gives adjournment notice over irregularities in rehabilitation of people evicted for land Acquisition BSP MP Ritesh Pandey has given Adjournment Motion Notice in Lok Sabha over “irregularities in rehabilitation of people evicted for land Acquisition.”





11:00 am IST TMC MP gives adjournment notice over Karnataka, Goa situation TMC MP Saugata Ray has given an Adjournment Motion Notice in Lok Sabha over political situation in Karnataka and Goa, reported news agency ANI.



