New Delhi, July 29 (IANS) The Lok Sabha witnessed heated exchanges between the Leader of Opposition (LOP) Rahul Gandhi and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju as the two sparred over adherence to ‘rules and customs’ of the House.

During his speech, Rahul Gandhi trained guns at the Centre on multiple issues, including unemployment, and exam paper leaks, besides taking jibes at the government, drawing protest from the Treasury benches.

This resulted in repeated uproarious scenes in the House, prompting Speaker Om Birla to intervene.

Kiren Rijiju too stood up from his chair and advised the LoP to not ‘cross the limits’ and follow the laid down guidelines.

Rahul Gandhi, speaking on Budget 2024-25, started on a belligerent note and repeated his charge that there is an atmosphere of fear in the country.

“Today, my friends in the BJP are terrified, ministers in the government are scared, while the farmers and workers are also frightened. An atmosphere of fear is prevailing in the country,” Rahul Gandhi said, promising that the INDIA bloc will remove this fear.

Rahul Gandhi also cited Mahabharta’s ‘Chakravyuh’ and sought to draw an analogy on how the nation’s youth, farmers, and others were being ‘driven to despair and death’, much like the same way young warrior Abhimanyu was encircled and killed by six men.

As the Parliamentary Affairs Minister intervened, Rahul Gandhi took a scathing jibe at him, saying the “mantra is duty-bound to protect the interests of top businessmen”.

“He has orders from the top and so he is defending them,” Rahul Gandhi said.

Kiren Rijiju then accused Rahul Gandhi of violating the rules and conventions of the House despite repeated objections from the Chair.

“There has been a convention of yielding in the House which everyone must follow,” he said.

Kiern Rijiju also cited the instance of PM Modi’s speech in reply to the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address and reminded the Opposition how the Prime Minister was heckled and obstructed during his address.

“The opposition created huge chaos and ruckus in the Parliament during the Prime Minister’s speech but when it comes to your own, your arrogance shows up… You don’t want to yield,” the Union Minister said.

At one moment, Speaker Om Birla also censured Rahul Gandhi over waving a poster in the House, apparently from the Halwa ceremony ahead of the Union Budget, and asked him to “honour the responsible Chair that he holds”.

“As LoP, it is expected from you that you maintain the dignity of the Chair and lead your fellow members in adhering to the rules,” the Speaker said.

–IANS

mr/arm

Mumbai, July 29 (IANS) Newly-appointed Rajasthan Governor Haribhau Bagde on Monday resigned from his position as the Member of Maharashtra Assembly. The veteran BJP leader represented Phulumbri constituency in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district in Marathwada region.

He submitted his resignation to the Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar. Bagde will soon take over as the 45th Rajasthan Governor.

Bagde, who has been an RSS activist since his childhood, was instrumental in increasing the presence of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Marathwada region.

He was first elected to the Maharashtra Assembly in 1985 from the Aurangabad East constituency. He has been a five-time legislator from the Phulumbri Assembly constituency.

Popularly known as “Nana” in political circles, he was also the Cabinet minister during the Shiv Sena-BJP government in Maharashtra between 1995 and 1999.

Besides, he was named the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker in 2014 after the BJP-led government was formed in the state.

Bagde on Monday met the Deputy Maharashtra Chief Minister and NCP national president Ajit Pawar — also a Deputy CM.

Fadnavis congratulated Bagde on his appointment as the Rajasthan Governor.

Bagde was also felicitated on behalf of the Maharashtra Legislature Secretariat by the Principal Secretary Jitendra Bhole.

–IANS

sj/pgh

New Delhi, July 29 (IANS) Days after three UPSC aspirants lost their lives due to flooding in the basement of a coaching institute in Delhi’s Rajinder Nagar area, Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Monday expressed serious concerns over the commercialisation of coaching centres, calling them “gas chambers” for students.

On Saturday evening, three UPSC aspirants lost their lives after heavy rainfall led to waterlogging in the basement of the coaching centre, which was being used illegally as a library. The incident trapped 17 other students for several hours, highlighting the dire safety issues in these establishments.

During a short-duration discussion in the Rajya Sabha on Monday, Vice President Dhankhar criticised the incident, pointing out the pervasive issue of coaching centres prioritising profit over safety.

“This is a very serious issue. Every day when we read newspapers, we see the first few pages filled with advertisements for coaching centres. Where does so much money come from? It comes from the students who want to fulfil their dreams,” he said.

“Coaching centres have become no less than gas chambers,” the Rajya Sabha Chairman added.

Meanwhile, BJP Rajya Sabha MP Sudhanshu Trivedi blamed the Delhi government for what he termed “criminal negligence”.

He alleged that despite knowing about the consequences, the students were put in a state of danger.

The basement of the coaching centre was used as a library in violation of the rules since the space was allowed to be used only for parking and storage purposes.

Citing the complaints lodged by the students, Trivedi said the authorities were “already informed and reminded” about the “illegal operation” of classes at the basement of Rau’s IAS Study Circle without proper non-objection certificate (NOC).

“Strict actions should be taken against all UPSC coaching institutes that are putting students’ lives in danger,” Trivedi said, quoting a letter by a student to the Ministry of Grievances, NCT Delhi, on June 26.

The Rajya Sabha MP also mentioned that a reminder was sent to the ministry on July 15 and July 22.

He also highlighted the need for immediate investigation and accountability to prevent such incidents from occurring in the future.

–IANS

sd/arm

Shimla, July 29 (IANS) Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Monday directed government officials to take measures to expedite the disposal of timber to prevent it from rotting.

Chairing the 214th meeting of the Board of Directors of Himachal Pradesh State Forest Development Corporation (HPFSDC) here, he asked them to explore the possibility of delegating powers to Divisional Forest Officers along with officers of the corporation to cut down trees coming in the way of projects after the first stage clearance of the Forest Conservation Act (FCA) to avoid delays.

The Chief Minister said for the first time that the HPFSDC would engage in mining activities from the Beas river after obtaining FCA clearance.

Additionally, he directed the corporation to blacklist defaulting contractors and initiate recovery proceedings against them, besides barring them from participating in future tenders.

Chief Minister Sukhu lauded the corporation’s efforts for earning profits of Rs 2.17 crore during 2021-22, Rs 8 crore in 2022-23 and Rs 10.04 crore in 2023-24.

He said that 100 ‘Van Veers’ would be engaged to address the staff shortage in the Forest Corporation.

He assured the state government would provide cooperation to strengthen the Forest Corporation, aiming to make it a self-reliant and profitable organisation.

The Board of Directors gave its approval to grant a bonus to employees of the corporation for 2022-23, benefiting about 227 employees and to increase daily wages to Rs 400.

It was also decided to grant another installment of four per cent dearness allowance to all government employees from April 1 and to regularise 80 government employees who have completed two years of contractual service.

Chief Minister Sukhu said 618 trees were damaged in Shimla during the last year’s monsoon fury and by selling the wood of these trees a profit of Rs 2.5 crore was earned.

–IANS

vg/khz

Patna July 29 (IANS) Dilip Jaiswal, the newly appointed president of the BJP’s Bihar unit, took charge on Monday.

The central leadership of the BJP appointed him to this position on July 25. Following his appointment, he travelled to Delhi to meet top party leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. He returned to Patna on Monday.

Bharatiya Janata Party leaders and supporters gathered at Patna airport in the morning to welcome Jaiswal in grand style. Prominent leaders such as former state president and deputy chief minister Samrat Choudhary, Vijay Kumar Sinha, Haribhushan Thakur Bachaul, Prem Kumar, and others were present at the airport.

Upon arrival, Jaiswal went to the BJP office in an open jeep. Party supporters lined several intersections along the route, welcoming him with garlands.

“We wholeheartedly welcomed our state president. We aim for the NDA to win 225 seats in the next assembly election. BJP was strong in the past and will become even stronger during Dilip Jaiswal’s tenure as state president. He knows the organization well, having served as treasurer of BJP for 20 years,” said Haribhushan Thakur Bachaul, BJP MLA from Bipsi assembly constituency in Madhubani district.

Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary said: “the BJP is a party where every booth-level worker is important to us. The party entrusted me with the significant responsibility of state president in the past, and when the government changed, I was made the deputy chief minister of Bihar. I want to assure the new state president that we are with you, and that support of the state government is also with you. I am fully confident that Dilip Jaiswal will elevate the BJP to a top position in Bihar.”

–IANS

ajk/bg