The month-long Winter Session of Parliament started in New Delhi today with customary obituary references. Both the houses have been adjourned till 12 noon after uproar.
Earlier, Newly elected BJP MP from Tehri, Uttarakhand Vijay Laxmi Shah and Congress MP form Jangipur, West Bengal Abhijeet Mukherjee were administered oath in the Lok Sabha.
With the united opposition firm on discussion on FDI in retail under a rule that entails voting, the stage is now set for a stormy Winter Session.
25 Bills including Lokpal, Whistle Blowers Protection and Women Reservation are listed for consideration and passing and 10 others for introduction during 22 days sittings of Parliament.
Key economic reforms Bills in sectors like insurance, pension and banking have also been lined up for passage.
TMC moves a notice for no confidence motion
Trinamool Congress, a former ally of UPA, today moved a notice for no confidence motion. The party has 19 members in Lok Sabha whereas they need support of 54 members for acceptance of the motion.
The party also moved a motion for suspension of question hour in Lok Sabha and discussion in Rajya Sabha under section 168.
Party Chief Mamata Banerjee has directed all the party MPs to be present in the Lok Sabha today.
Strongly opposing FDI in retail sector, Banerjee has remained adament in moving the no-confidence motion despite being isolated by the opposition parties over it. She had said on Wednesday that she has no hesitation in supporting even a no-trust motion moved by Left parties.
BJP submits breach of privilege notice against Anand Sharma
BJP MPs Prakash Javadekar and Rajiv Pratap Rudy have submitted to the Rajya Sabha chairman Mohd. Hamid Ansari, a breach of privilege notice against Union minister Anand Sharma on the issue of FDI in retail, who had assured the House that all stakeholders would be consulted before a decision is taken on the issue.
BJP maintains that despite making this promise in both Houses of Parliament, the government went ahead unilaterally to allow 51 per cent FDI in multi-brand retail.
Javdekar and Rudy are learnt to have alleged that this assurance was not kept and this amounts to a breach of privilege. If the Chairman admits the notice then it would be sent to the Privileges Committee for further action.
Speaker holds all-party meeting seeking floor coordination
On the eve of the session, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar held an all-party meeting seeking floor coordination.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Meira Kumar said, leaders of all political parties have assured smooth functioning of Parliament to discuss issues of vital importance to the common man.
The Speaker said, the parties have assured to cooperate for transacting business in the house. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath said the Parliament belongs to all and convergence has to be arrived at through discussion on contentious issues to avoid disruption of proceedings.