Sansad Diary: Oil Area Amendment Bill passed from Parliament, Shashi Tharoor targeted central government

The proceedings of Parliament started again on Monday and various bills were expected to be discussed in the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha. However, a few minutes after the commencement of the proceedings, the uproar began, resulting in the postponement of both houses. Strong protests started demanding clarification from Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge about the position of Congress on Muslim reservation in Rajya Sabha. The Lok Sabha discussed the Finance Bill, 2025. The Finance Bill is introduced to make the financial proposals of the central government effective. At the same time, Parliament approved the Oil Kshetra Amendment Bill.

 

There was an uproar in the Lok Sabha on Monday over Muslim reservation in Karnataka and issues related to women safety in Uttar Pradesh. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members tried to raise the issue of giving four percent reservation to the Muslim community in government contracts in Karnataka, while the Samajwadi Party (SP) MPs created a ruckus about the subject of women’s safety in Uttar Pradesh. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said without naming an alleged statement of Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivkumar, saying that if the Congress believes in the Constitution, he should dismiss the person sitting in constitutional post.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Monday targeted the government over the state of the country’s economy and said that everything is being taxed in the country today, but the government smiles and says that all this is being done for the country. Initiating the Discussion on the Finance Bill, 2025 in the Lok Sabha, Tharoor said in a poetic manner that this government also puts on petrol, shirts, mobiles, phone calls, salary, travel, sweets and happiness and sorrow and also calls tax as the future of the country. Amid the presence of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the House, he said, “When we ask you questions about this, you smile and say that it is for the country. When we ask you to improve it, you say that we will develop. ”

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Nishikant Dubey on Monday expressed confidence that India will become the third largest economy in the world in 2027 and after that the current fiscal deficit of the country will be continuously reduced. Targeting the Congress, he also said that a point agenda of the party is to oppose this government and it does not see anything good. Participating in the discussion in the Lok Sabha on the Finance Bill, 2025, Dubey said that the current fiscal deficit in the history of this country was reduced only once, during the government of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2004.

Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra on Monday, citing a provision of the new Income Tax Act, questioned in the Lok Sabha whether the government wants to bring back the election bond into some other format. Also, alleged that ED and CBI have become professional ‘collection agents’ for this government. Participating in the discussion in the House on the Finance Bill 2025, Moitra said that the Supreme Court has termed the election bond as unconstitutional in the February 2024, yet the new Income Tax Act, 2025 mentions the provision related to the election bonds.

The Rajya Sabha on Monday approved an important bill with the goal of bringing a ‘single permit’ system for mineral oil excavation and development of overall energy projects amidst uproar. When the meeting of the Upper House began after two later postponement, with the permission of Deputy Chairman Harivansh, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri introduced to pass the ‘Oil Kshetra (Regulation and Development) Amendment Bill, 2024’.

 

On Monday, members of the ruling party in the Rajya Sabha protested against the passage of four percent reservation in government contracts in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly and accused the Congress of trying to change the constitution. Due to this, due to uproar, the meeting of the Upper House was postponed for the entire day at 2.35 pm after two adjournment. Due to the uproar, zero hour and Question Hour could not be done in the upper house. Amidst the uproar by the members of the ruling party, Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge claimed that no power can change the constitution made by Dr. BR Ambedkar.

As soon as the meeting of the House started, BJP members raised the issue of reservation and started creating a ruckus. Amidst the uproar, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Reijiju said that those who claim to be the protector of the Constitution are flouting the Constitution. He said that a Congress leader sitting on an important constitutional post has said that the Constitution will be changed if needed on the issue of reservation. Although he did not name anyone, he is believed to be indicated to the Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka DK Shivkumar.

House leader and Union Health and Family Welfare Minister JP Nadda said that with great sadness that people who call themselves the protector of the Constitution are completely contrary to their claim. He said that a bill has been passed in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly with a provision to provide four percent reservation in government contracts to Muslims.

The government said on Monday that till March 17 in the year 2025, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting received 57 RTI applications and 333 public complaints and all of them have been settled. Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting and Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Dr. L. Murugan gave this information to the Rajya Sabha in a written reply to a question.