AMN /NEW DELHI
The Monsoon session of Parliament began today with obitury refrences and adjuned for the day after paying homge to to departed souls.
The Monsoon session of Parliament began today. Both Houses paid tributes to the departed sitting and former members and the victims of Amarnath terror attack before adjourning till tomorrow.
As soon as the Lok Sabha met, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan read the condolence message over the death of sitting MP Vinod Khanna and some former members of the House.
Mrs Mahajan condemned the terror attack on Amarnath Yatri and expressed grief over the deaths in the attack. Newly elected members – Farooq Abdullah from Srinagar and PK Kunhalikutty from Mallapuram – took oath.
The Rajya Sabha also paid tributes to its sitting members Anil Madhav Dave and P Govardhan Reddy who passed away recently. It also paid homage to some of former members of the Houses. Chairman Mohammad Hamid Ansari also condoled the loss of lives in recent floods in different states.
Earlier, talking to reporters outside Parliament, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hoped that the session will be productive. He said, like the monsoon brings hope, the session also brings the same spirit of hope.
Mr Modi also said, the spirit of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is about growing stronger together and hoped that the same spirit prevails in the session. He said, GST shows the good that can be achieved when all parties come together and work for the nation.
The Prime Minister also met Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Vice President Rahul Gandhi. Just before the Lok Sabha met for the day, Mr Modi walked up to the two top Congress leaders and shook hands in the House. He also met Samajwadi party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav and others.
Session will continue till August 11. Many important issues including terror attack on Amarnath Yatra and stand off with China in Doklam are likely to create stormy scenes inside both the Houses of Parliament.
BJP has said that it is ready to discuss on all issues in Parliament. BJP spokesperson Gopal Agrawal hoped that Parliament will function smoothly. Tom Vaddakan of Congress said, his party is ready for fruitful contribution in the session.