Budget Session: In Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley blames UPA, TMC for poor state of Railways; Sonia Gandhi makes Congress' claim for Leader of Opposition

It will be the first big test for the Narendra Modi government as the Budget session at the Parliament begins today. The opposition will not go easy on the BJP government, though the numbers of the BJP at the Lok Sabha will certainly help the Modi Sarkar. The new government will be presenting its first Railway Budget tomorrow and the Union Budget on Thursday. The ground realities of the economy have not changed much with inflation soaring above 6%. The expectations on the new government are very high which is seen in the overheating of the market. The Sensex and Nifty have crossed their all time high and are hovering around 25,962 and 7751 respectively.

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Congress, BSP, CPI-M stage walkout in Rajya Sabha expressing dissatisfaction over Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's reply on price rise

Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Monday said her party should get the post of Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha. "Congress should get the post of LoP," Gandhi told reporters. When asked what if Congress does not get LoP post?" Gandhi replied: "We'll see." The tussle over getting the post of Leader of Opposition (LoP) between the Congress and the Government has been going on for a while with the Congress pushing its case for the post on grounds that it has the most seats (44) in the opposition. Read more

Opposition slams government in Rajya Sabha on price rise
Slamming BJP government for spurt in prices of essential commodities during its 45-day rule, Opposition Congress today took potshots at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for riding to power on promise of controlling inflation yet doing nothing on it. Speaking on the issue after his demand for suspension of Question Hour to discuss price rise was accepted by the ruling party, Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said the one-and-half-month rule of BJP government has seen all round rise in prices of vegetables and fruits. Since coming to power, the BJP-led government has raised rail passenger fares and freight charges besides hiking petrol, diesel and LPG rates that have cascading impact on prices of other commodities, the Congress leader said. Read more

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Sonia Gandhi makes Congress' claim for Leader of Opposition in the parliament. "We are the single largest party and we have a pre-poll alliance. Hence, we are entitled to get the post of Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha," she said Sonia Gandhi.

Inflation, communal incidents and status of Bihar to be taken up in Parliament: Ali Anwar
Janata Dal (United) leader Ali Anwar on Monday said issues such as inflation, communalism and granting special status to Bihar should be discussed during the Budget Session of Parliament. Anwar told ANI that, "The biggest issue is inflation, due to which the common man is suffering the most. It was expected to come down, or at least, stay unchanged. But, it has increased drastically. Prices of essential commodities, including onion, salt and even sugar has gone up." Read more

Proceedings in both Houses of Parliament begin.

BSP chief Mayawati attacks BJP government, says instead of 'acche din', 'mehenge din' have come. “We want a discussion on it in Rajya Sabha,” says Mayawati.NDA government ready to discuss any issue raised by Opposition, assures Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu after Congress raises concerns over rising inflation. The Speaker will go by the rulebook. Once elected, the Speaker is above party politics, says Parliamentary Affairs Minister.

Sensex breaches 26,000-mark; Nifty at record-high of 7,787.95
The benchmark BSE Sensex crossed the 26,000-mark for the first time and the NSE Nifty soared to hit yet another high of 7,787.95 in opening trade today on the back of strong inflow of foreign funds ahead of the Budget. The BSE 30-share barometer spurted by 137.29 points, or 0.52%, to trade at a lifetime high of 26,099.35 with stocks of infrastructure, IT, power, capital goods, auto and realty sectors, leading the rally. The gauge had gained 138.31 points in the previous session. The NSE Nifty also maintained its record-breaking trend and gathered another 36.35 points, or 0.46%, to hit a new all-time high of 7,787.95 points, surpassing its previous intra-day high of 7,758.00, touched in Friday's trade. Read more 

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10:39 IST Monday, 7 July 2014

* All party meet ends."The Speaker will go by the rulebook. Once elected, the Speaker is above party politics," said M Venkaiah Naidu on the subject of Leader of Opposition."Govt ready to discuss any issue raised by Opposition. Although no one raised the issue of Leader of Opposition in the all party meet," he informed. Naidu termed as "unfortunate" Kamal Nath's remarks against the Speaker on issue of Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha.

The 42-day-long Budget Session of Parliament will begin from today and will have 28 sittings. During this period, Railway Minister Sadanand Gowda and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will present the Narendra Modi-led NDA Government's first Railway and General Budgets on July 8 and July 10 respectively. The Economic Survey will be released on July 9. The session will end on August 14. Read more

A PTI report quotesspeakers Sumitra Mahajan as saying, ""The session will have 28 sittings and 168 working hours. Since the Standing Committees for various ministries are yet to be constituted, the demands for grants for various ministries will be passed by both Houses by July 31 after discussion in Parliament instead of the committees," Ms Mahajan said after the meeting yesterday."

"Government is willing to give full time to discuss any issue. They are ready to discuss every issue. Different suggestions have come and they will be decided after the meeting of the Business Advisory Committee," she added.

Interestingly the session begins today without any one being named as the leader of the opposition. Whether the parliament will disucss and fix this in the ongoing session remains to be seen. While the Congress will pitch in heavily for the position, the BJP might not easily give it to them. 

Apart from inflation, the ongoing crisis in Iraq and bringing back of Indians mgith also be raised in the parliament.