The inaugural session of Parliament of the 17th Lok Sabha began from June 17, 2019. The union ministers of Modi’s cabinet and other BJP MPs Dr Harsh Vardhan and Dr Jitendra Singh took oath as members of 17th Lok Sabha. BJP MP Virendra Kumar took oath as the pro term Speaker of the 17th Lok Sabha. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also took oath as an MP of Lok Sabha. Several first time MPs from BJP like Tejaswi Surya, Sunny Deol and Ravi Kishan also took oath today.
Popular MP Anurag Thakur from Hamirpur, who had won three previous terms as well, also took oath as a MP. Anurag ji has been appointed as the Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs. Together with Nirmalaji who is the Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, he will surely make his mark. Suresh Kashyap ji who has been elected as the MP from Shimla took oath in Hindi. I feel it was a great gesture on his part to take the oath in Hindi which shows that he truly represents the linguistic diversity of the nation.
What stood out for me was the attitude to Modiji towards his opposition. He said that “The role of an active Opposition is important. The opposition need not bother about their numbers. I hope they will speak actively and participate in house proceedings.” I think it was a great move on his part to encourage other parties to support the decisions of the government that are in favour of people .
For the development of the nation, the political affiliations of the leaders should not result in hampering the welfare of the people.
As the Lok Sabha was full of new faces, the Prime Minister encouraged the MPs to start with fresh zeal and new thinking. In my opinion, this boost of energy will go a long way in shaping the course of the next five year.
On the eve of the first session, PM Modi chaired an all party meeting and has invited the heads of all parties for a meeting on June 19, 2019. The agenda of the all party meeting was to discuss the “one nation, one election” issue and other matters of national importance. This demonstrates that for the new government, welfare of the people is the top most priority. The Indian public can now breathe easy as the incumbent government has already started demonstrating that they want to change the lives of the people for the better.
After attending the meeting of the National Democratic Alliance, Modiji said that “We, the NDA family look forward to fulfilling the dreams of 130 crore Indians, who have reposed unparalleled faith in our alliance”. I think the vision of the new government is very clear and the Indian public can safely repose their faith in the strong government helmed by BJP.
Other business of the house included an announcement that the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the full Union Budget on July 5 which will be preceded by a pre-budget Economic Survey on July 4. It will be interesting to see what Nirmala ji has to offer to the nation on her maiden budget.
Another important development in today’s session was the decision taken to reintroduce a fresh bill in the Parliament to ban instant triple talaq. I think this is an excellent move to criminalize a regressive tradition. In fact, in 2017, the Supreme Court of India ruled that triple talaq is unconstitutional. Several senior muslim clerics have also denounced the practice of triple talaq, calling it an un-Islamic. The bill, once it becomes a law, will replace an ordinance issued in February 2019. Under the proposed law, instant triple talaq is illegal and an offense means an imprisonment for a term of three years. The previous bill introduced by the earlier cabinet had lapsed. I hope that the new bill receives an overwhelming support in both the houses and is passed. It is high time that practices which preach gender inequality is done away with.
There were some other interesting moment today. When Smt. Smriti Irani took oath as an MP, she received the longest applause. Smriti ji defeated Rahul Gandhi from the erstwhile Congress bastion, Amethi by a huge margin. Sonia Gandhi had to await her turn to take oath as an MP. In 2014, the Lok Sabha secretariat had made an exception: Sonia Gandhi and LK Advani, senior most leaders of the House, took oath at the beginning.. In today’s session, oaths were administered in alphabetical order.
The first session also witnessed fashionable MPs: BJP MP who has been elected from Madhubani, Dr. Ashok Kumar Yadav wore a stole and a cap with traditional Madhubani art. I found this to be a wonderful gesture on part of Ashokji as it shows that he is still connected to his roots. Madhubani art form is one of the oldest art forms in the Indian sub-continent and originated in Mithila.
I also found some interesting facts about the 16th Lok Sabha (held between June 2014 to February 2019): 133 bills were passed which was15% higher than the previous Lok Sabha. 45 ordinances were also promulgated. The 16th Lok Sabha also spent 32% of its time on legislative business, which was higher than the average time spent during the other Lok Sabhas (25%).
Given that the new government has started off on such a positive note, I hope that the 17th Lok Sabha sets higher records and the second innings of the NDA government is a stupendous one. The people have once again shown that believe in Modiji and his leadership. Under his guidance and leadership, the future of the nation will be shaped and the coming generations will be really proud of it.
