New Delhi: The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) members posed 95 questions related to the public for response from the Union government and participated the passing of five Bills passed in the Lok Sabha during the interim Budget session of the Parliament which concluded Wednesday.
BJD MP from Dhenkanal Tathagata Satpathy took part in the discussion on interim Budget for 2019-20 and criticised the Union-government for ruining the economy of the country. He also dubbed the interim Budget as an election gimmick. Leader of the party in the Lower House, Bhartruhari Mahtab took part in the motion of thanks on the President’s address, Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Bill and Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial Bill.
Similarly, BJD MP from Bolangir, Kalikesh Narayan Singhdeo participated in the discussion on the Finance Bill, 2019 and opined that the government will not be able to meet the fiscal deficit for the financial year.
The BJD MPs took part in the discussion on five Bills passed by the Lok Sabha namely, the Finance Bill, 2019; the Appropriation (Vote on Account) Bill, 2019; the Appropriation Bill, 2019; the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes Bill, 2018, and the Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial (Amendment) Bill, 2019.
BJD MP Bhartruhari Mahtab, Rabindra Jena, Prabhas Singh and Kulamani Samal raised a number of state specific issues during the Zero Hour of the Lok Sabha and also under Section 377 IPC. Mahtab also raised the issue of money laundering by Baijayant Jay Panda and objected to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) action in Kolkata.
Significantly, Bhartruhari Mahtab posed maximum number of questions – 22, followed by Rabindra Jena – 16 and Kulamani Samal – 13. Besides, Bargarh MP Prabhas Singh introduced two private members’ Bills in the House.
In Rajya Sabha, BJD MPs posed 10 questions during the brief session.
Notably, the interim Budget session commenced January 31 and adjourned sine die Wednesday. The session had 10 sittings spread over a period of 14 days. The productivity of the Lok Sabha was 89 per cent and that of Rajya Sabha was approximately 8 per cent.
The BJD lost its Lok Sabha MP from Aska constituency, Ladu Kishore Swain, during this session.
