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Seats lost or gained in 2014 vis-a-vis the 2009 election

The 2014 elections: electioneering and the verdict

Seats lost or gained in 2014 vis-a-vis 2009

See the graphic: 'Seats lost or gained in 2014 vis-a-vis the 2009 election'

Source: The Times of India

Victory margins in 2009 and 2014

Victory margins in 2009 and 2014

Source: The Times of India

Percentage of votes obtained by winning candidates

LS winners got average of 47% votes: ADR

New Delhi: TIMES NEWS NETWORK

The Times of India Jun 05 2014

This is one race that PM Narendra Modi lost. BJP’s Darshnaben Jardosh from Surat constituency pipped Modi to the post by winning her seat with a vote share of 76%. Jardosh was followed by Modi who won the Vadodara constituency with 73% of the votes polled while Chandrakant Patil from Navsari constituency won with 71% of votes polled.

According to data analysed by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), the winners of the Lok Sabha elections garnered an average of 47% of votes polled compared to 44% in the 2009 polls.

Out of 282 winners of BJP, 142 (50%) won with less than 50% of votes polled in their constituency while 37 (84%) out of 44 winners from Congres, 30 (81%) out of 37 winners from AIADMK, 28 (82%) out of 34 winners from Trinamool Congres, 13 (65%) out of 20 winners from BJD and 6 (33%) out of 18 winners from Shiv Sena won with less than 50% of votes polled in their constituency.

The MPs who won with less than 30% of the vote share included Ladakh MP from BJP Thupstan Chhewang who won with 26%, Congres’s Ravneet Singh Bittu from Ludhiana who won with 27% and Azmeera Naik, Mahabubabad from TRS with 29% of the vote and CPM’s Mohammed Salim with 29% of the vote.

Caste and the 16th Lok Sabha

THE HINDI HEARTLAND'S CASTE IN STONE

The Times of India May 19 2014

Caste UP

Caste Bihar

We like to think of ourselves as global citizens who are part of an emerging economic superpower. But the reality is that politics in several parts of India is still mired in caste and religion. Identity politics lurks below the surface when it's not front and centre. Perhaps nowhere no more so than in UP and Bihar, which with 120 seats between them, account for close to a quarter of total Lok Sabha seats. Candidates are often chosen on the basis of whether they are Dalit or OBC or Thakur or Bhumihar or Brahmin or Muslim.

TOI reporters in UP and Bihar combed through the entire list of candidates of the major contenders in each state to ascertain their caste and religious status. There are a mind-boggling array of castes: From Dusadh, Jatav, Dom, Pasi and Musahar (all SC/Dalit), to Koeri, Yadav, Dhanuk, Kurmi and Barhai (all OBC), to Kahar, Mallah, Gangota and Tanti (all EBC or Extremely Backward Castes, somewhere between SC and OBC), to the upper caste Rajputs, Bhumihars, Kayasths and Brahmins. For reasons of space and convenience, we've clubbed into a smaller handful of groups.

UP and Bihar aren't the only states where caste politics plays a big role: It's there in Andhra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra (a reason for Ashok Chavan's resurrection despite the taint of Adarsh is that he's a Maratha). And if it's not caste, it's religion. But nowhere does it cast such a long and imposing shadow, and over such a huge block of seats, as the two `heartland states'. We analysed the `strike rates' of the different castes in the two states

Muslims

Muslims/ Minorities

See chart: ‘Muslims/ Minorities’

Women

UP, BENGAL TOP LIST OF WOMEN MPs

The Times of India May 19 2014

Women

One-third of West Bengal's MPs are women while states like K'taka, Rajasthan, Kerala and Punjab have just one MP each.

Tamil Nadu, also headed by a woman CM, elected only 4 MPs

See graphic: ‘Women’

Expenditure of political parties

The Times of India

Jan 17 2015

BJP spent Rs 714cr, Congress Rs 516cr during 2014 polls

BJP and Congress spent Rs 1,230 crore between them on campaigning for the 2014 elections to the Lok Sabha and three state assemblies. While BJP ran a poll expenditure of over Rs 714 crore during the April-May exercise, Congress had a bill of Rs 516 crore on its countrywide campaign.

The two leading national parties filed their expenditure statements well beyond the August 26 deadline. Congress declared its poll expenses to the EC on December 22 while BJP was the last national party to do so, filing its election expenditure statement only on January 12.

According to the latest data uploaded on the EC website, BJP and Congress's expenditure in the 2014 Lok Sabha and assembly elections (Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Sikkim) far surpassed the spending by other recognised national parties like NCP (over Rs 51 crore) and BSP (more than Rs 30 crore).

The EC had, on November 28 last year, issued showcause notices to BJP, Congress and 18 other parties over the delay in filing expenditure statements for the general polls.

According to EC data, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) spent Rs 51.34 crore in these polls followed by Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) with an expenditure of Rs 30.05 crore. CPI (Marxist) incurred an expenditure of Rs 18.69 crore.

The EC has not shared the expenditure made in this regard by CPI even though it said the party had submitted the relevant information to it on September 15, 2014.

The commission had also warned these parties that it would withdraw their recognition if the statements were not filed and sent to it.

As per rules, political parties are required to file their election expenditure statements within 75 days of assembly elections while the deadline in case of Lok Sabha polls is 90 days.

Mismatch been candidates’ and parties’ figures

The Times of India, Sep 18 2015

2014 elections: The election expenses of several candidates did not match their party's expenditure declaration; Graphic courtesy: The Times of India, Sep 18 2015

Himanshi Dhawan

Election expenses: Filing by parties, candidates, including PM, don't match

Election expenses of several candidates did not match their party's expenditure declaration according to an analysis by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). Among those whose election expenses were either more or less than the expense declaration made by the party included PM Narendra Modi, senior BJP functionary L K Advani, Cabinet minister Kalraj Mishra, LJP's Ramvilas Paswan, NCP's Supriya Sule, Congress MPs Deepender Singh Hooda and K V Thomas among others.

Also, around 70 parliamentarians including Speaker Sumita Mahajan, ministers Uma Bharati, Maneka Gandhi and Jayant Sinha claimed to have received party funds though the party has not declared any expenses towards their campaign.

Out of 342 MPs from national parties, 263 claimed they received poll funds to the tune of Rs 75.58 crore from their parties while the parties declared that they had given a much lower amount of Rs 54.73 crore to only 175 MPs.

The analysis is based on election expenditure statements submitted to the Election Commission by the parties and individual candidates. The discrepancy in data, according to ADR, points to lack of scrutiny of election expenses by the EC. The discrepancy is most pronounced in BJP where the party declared that it had provided aid to 159 parliamentarians allocating a total of Rs 47.03 crore. Of these, 18 MPs claimed to have received less than the party declared as expenses towards their campaign. They included PM Narendra Modi whose affidavit claimed the party gave him Rs 32.53 lakh while the party expenditure statement declared Rs 40 lakh as the fund amount.

Similarly , Advani declared Rs 33.88 lakh as opposed to the party declaration of Rs 41 lakh. A senior EC official told TOI that the commission has taken note of the ADR findings.

The 16th Lok Sabha: Socio-economic composition

Background check of MPs

The Times of India

Background check. From The Times of India

Extremes

A HOUSE OF EXTREMES

The Times of India May 19 2014

On results day, The Times of India profiled the 16th LS, in terms of the age, gender, assets of MPs & criminal cases pending against them. The day after, The Times of India brought you a party-wise breakup. Today, find out which states sent the richest and oldest MPs, most women and criminals |

See the two graphics: EXTREMES 1 and EXTREMES 2

EXTREMES 1

EXTREMES 2

The avocations of MPs

Rahul a 'strategy consultant', Modi a 'social worker'

Professions of MPs: 16th Lok Sabha

Mohua Chatterjee, The Times of India TNN | Jul 30, 2014

West Bengal Congres chief and MP from Baharampur Adhir Ranjan Choudhury may have had a number of criminal cases registered against him, but he lists his profession as "social reformer," according to the Parliament website.

Rahul Gandhi's strategies may not have worked for the Congres in last elections, but in his declaration to the Lok Sabha, the Congres vice-president does not shy away from listing himself as a "strategy consultant".

The profession-wise list of 539 members of the 16th Lok Sabha offers an interesting peek into how our netas prefer to project their identities beyond politics.

The Parliament website lists 33 categories of professions ranging from agriculturists to builders, medical practitioners to educationists, teachers to sportsperson, artists to industrialists and religious missionaries to social reformers.

BJP veteran L K Advani's name figures in the category of "journalists". The party patriarch, an avid blogger, began his professional life with the R S S journal 'Organiser'. Among the other four journalists in LS are BJD's Bhartruhari Mahtab and Tathagata Satpathy. External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and Speaker Sumitra Mahajan are listed as "advocates" by profession.

Home minister Rajnath Singh calls himself a "teacher". But his party senior Murli Manohar Joshi is registered as "professor". Giving him company is first-time MP Sanjeev Baliyan, whose name incidentally is linked to the Muzaffarnagar riots.

While Congres president Sonia Gandhi is a "political and social worker", Union minister Maneka Gandhi prefers to identify herself as a "writer", probably because she has quite a few published works to her credit.

Indian Test cricketer Kirti Azad has preferred to identify himself as the only one in the "sportsperson" category, while young MP Anurag Thakur is the only one to prefer the "cricketer" tag.

The House has four people registered as "builders," nine "artists" and seven "film artistes". If first-time MP Poonam Mahajan identifies herself as "businessperson", TMC MP Saugata Roy prefers the "educationist" tag.

BJP MP Yogi Adityanath is the only "religious missionary" in the House and Shashi Tharoor the only one to identify himself as a "diplomat".

The wealth of parliamentarians

THE RICH LIST

The Times of India May 19 2014

TOI had carried the overall and party-wise average age and assets of MPs, pending criminal cases against them and the percentage of women MPs in the 16th LS. Here's the state-wise break-up in the graphic 'Average assets'

Average assets

Session-wise productivity

2014

Budget session

Productivity of LS climbs to 103%

Indian parliament: productivity, 2012-14.

Indian parliament: productivity of the 15th Lok Sabha vs. 2014 (16th Lok Sabha)

Himanshi.Dhawan @timesgroup.com The Times of India Aug 02 2014

Much like in government, the winds of change are blowing in the corridors of Parliament. After a deadlock of nearly three years, there is a flurry of activity on the floor of the two Houses. In the last three weeks, the 16th Lok Sabha recorded a productivity of 103% as discussions went past allotted hours, in contrast to the 15th Lok Sabha that worked for only 61% of the scheduled time.

Even if only Budget sessions are considered, the productivity of the LS is up steeply from 49% in 2013.

It is the first-time lawmakers who are leading the charge. In 2014, participation of first-time MPs in the debate on demand for grants increased by 58% with 158 firsttimers speaking on the subject as compared to 100 in 2009.

Analysis by independent body PRS Legislative Research shows a 41% increase in participation by new MPs in the railway budget discussion.

Interest in the general budget was also high, with 26% more participation by legislators in 2014 as opposed to 2009.

In all, participation by first-timers was up 38.5% compared to veterans whose participation increased by 27% between 2009 and 2014. There are 314 first-time MPs in this Parliament, up from 302 in 2009.

While it is early days yet, there is reason to believe this is not a flash in the pan. Organizations such as PRS and Swaniti that work closely with parliamentarians say they find greater awareness and accountability among legislators.

Winter session

The Times of India Dec 24 2014 Lok Sabha worked for 98% of winter session Himanshi Dhawan The most productive winter session for the Lok Sabha so far was in 2004 when it had worked for 101% of the scheduled time. BJP's strong majority in the LS has meant smooth sailing for the party but its According to data analysed by PRS Legislative Research, the LS spent 44% of its productive time on discussing various issues, 35% on legislation and 14% on answering questions.

`Bid To Focus On Godse's Ideology'

After announcing its plans to build a temple to Nathuram Godse in Sitapur, the Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha (ABHM) has decided to mark January 30, observed as Martyrs Day, as ‘shaurya divas’. Godse had assassinated Mahatama Gandhi on that day in 1948.

Observing ‘shaurya diwas’ on January 30 is an attempt to bring forth Nathuram Godse’s ideology, said Kamlesh Tiwari, working president of the Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha.

On December 23, TOI had reported the Hindu Mahasabha’s plans to build a temple dedicated to Godse. Some Hindu Mahasabha members want to perform ‘bhumi pujan’ of the temple on January 30. But Tiwari told TOI the ceremony would in all likelihood be performed between February 15 and February 25. The organization will observe `shaurya divas' in 20 cities throughout the country , Tiwari said. The cities include Mumbai, Aurangabad, Thane, Pune, Hyderabad, Indore, Gwalior, Ahmedabad, Anand, Surat, New Delhi, Lucknow, Gorakhpur, Bareilly and Sitapur.

On the day, members of the Hindu Mahasabha will assemble in parks and community centres, put up a photograph of Godse and hold a garlanding ceremony , said Tiwari, who represents the Hindu Mahasabha in the Ram Janmabhumi dispute case. He said so far Godse was known as Gandhi’s killer, and even the Hindu Mahasabha did not support killing. “But people should understand that Godse didn’t kill Gandhi for his personal interest,” said Tiwari. The Hindu Mahasabha will also demand that the court proceedings of Godse’s trial be made public and the government stops identifying him as a traitor, Tiwari said.

2015

Budget session: high productivity

The Times of India, Mar 21 2015

Lok Sabha sees 10-yr-high productivity this session

Himanshi Dhawan

Lok Sabha members worked harder than their predecessors in the last decade with the just-concluded budget session registering productivity of 121%.Despite disruptions and adjournments the House of Elders also did not fare too badly notching productivity of 109%, only second to the 2009 budget session. The data compiled by independent think-tank, PRS Legislative Research, reveals that this LS session surpassed the monsoon session in 2005 that worked for 110% of the time, while the highest productivity for RS has been in the 2009 budget session that worked for 113% of the scheduled time. Productivity is considered on the number of hours the House sits as compared to the number of hours scheduled.

Question Hour in Rajya Sabha functioned for 98% of the scheduled time while Lok Sabha members were able to get responses 88% of the time. The lowest productivity in the last 10 years has been in winter session of 2010 when the LS worked for merely 6% of the time and the RS worked for 2% of the time.

Official data from the parliamentary affairs ministry is also flattering: The LS worked for 123.45% of the time, working an additional 23 hours 45 minutes while the RS registered productivity of 106.79%.Among the significant bills that have passed include the Insurance Laws (amendment) bill, Motor Vehicles (amendment) bill and Citizenship (amendment) bill. Commenting on the passing of mines and minerals bill and the coal mines bill that replace ordinances parliamentary affairs minister M Venkaiah Naidu said, “The Parliament has enabled the beginning of a new era of transparent governance in the country by ending the government's discretion in allocation of minerals which has come to be a cesspool of corruption and malpractices.

Monsoon session

Barricades erected

The Times of India, Aug 13 2015

In a first, barriers erected in LS

Barricades were put up on either side of the secre tary general's table in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday , blocking members from accessing the Speaker's chair. The move came after nearly three weeks of unruly protests where opposition members, led by Congress, used placards to block the Speaker's vision. Members were also seen climbing on the low platform that was meant for the secretary general's chair and leaning on it. This is probably the first time that a portion of the House has been fenced. Besides sloganeering and holding placards in front of the Speaker's chair, banging placards on the Speaker's table, members also tore paper and flung bits around, forcing adjournments.`Incensed' Sonia troops into well, stuns all: “Kya... kya kaha... what did he say about me?“ This is how Congress chief Sonia Gandhi reacted to a caustic accusation about a family member hurled by BJP parliamentarians. The provocation for saffron members was Mallikarjuna Kharge's comment that Lalit Modi had a strong business relationship with Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje, a fact he repeated many times despite the Speaker's observa tion that a non-mem ber could not be named in Lok Sabha.

Sonia took serious objection to the personal insinuation and walked into the well, standing right in front of the Speaker's chair and protesting vigorously . In tow were Congress MPs appearing equally offended. As the confrontation flared, the Speaker adjourned the House. Sonia was then surrounded by colleagues in deep discussion for some time before lunch.Sonia rushing into the well surprised everyone, with an MP saying, “It is another first in Parliament history...first time Sonia going into the well.“

Productivity of LS and Rajya Sabha

The Times of India

Monsoon session, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, 2015; Graphic courtesy: The Times of India, Aug 14, 2014

Aug 14 2015

Himanshi Dhawan

RS worked for only 9% of allotted time

In total washout, only 1 Bill passed in session

Only one legislation was passed by Parliament during the 17-day monsoon session with Rajya Sabha working for barely 9% of the allotted time, only marginally up from the infamous winter session of 2010 when the House functioned for just 2% of the time. Lok Sabha, aided by the explusion of 25 Congress members for five days, managed to work for almost half the time (48%) allotted to it. The Delhi high court (amendment) bill 2014 was the only bill -excluding money bills--to have been passed by both Houses. According to Parliament data, the Lower House lost 47 hours and 27 minutes, the Upper House lost 82 hours to disruptions with important legislations like the land acquisition bill, GST bill and whistleblowers protection bill getting delayed.

The session witnessed the lowest number of bills being passed in the last five years. This productivity is in sharp contrast to the budget session this year, which was the most productive session in the last 15 years. During the last session, RS had a productivity of 101%.

As a result of continuous disruptions during Question Hour, only 2% of questions were answered orally while only 1% of the time was spent on legislative business in RS.

In comparison, LS spent 17% of its productive time on legislative business, and 45% on non-legislative business. About 13% of questions were answered orally during Question Hour.Three bills including the Negotiable Instruments (amendments) bill 2015, SC and ST (prevention of atrocities) bill 2014 and Repealing and Amending (fourth) bill 2015 were passed in LS but were discussed for less than three hours, says analysis by PRS Legislative Research.

Despite a lame duck session, the performance of individual parliamentarians was enthusiastic. PRS data show that overall attendance was as high as 75%. Attendance in LS was at 84%, while in RS it was at 78%. In LS, the highest participation was seen in MPs between 56 to 70 years of age. A LS MP participated in about 20 debates on average. However, 48 MPs (9%) from that House did not participate in any debates, of which 27 were first time MPs. Among parties with more than 10 MPs, Shiv Sena MPs had high participation, with 25 debates on average for each MP. This was followed by BJD and Congress, with about 20 debates per MP.

2016

Budget session

Indiatvnews

What is more interesting is the fact that the productivity stats of both houses of Parliament,- Lok Sabha as well as Rajya Sabha, is impressive.

The productivity of Lok Sabha in this session stands at a staggering 121% while the Rajya Sabha is not far behind with 91% productivity, according to the analysis done by PRS Legislative Research.

It should be recalled that with 122% productivity, Budget Session 2015 was Lok Sabha’s most productive session in last 15 years. And at 121%, the productivity of Budget Session 2016 is second highest in last 15 years.

Rajya Sabha’s productivity in this session is commendable in view of the fact that the upper house of the parliament had a poor productivity of 51% and 9% in Winter and Monsoon Sessions of 2015 respectively.

In fact, the productivity of Rajya Sabha in first part of Budget session was 105% and it slumped to 79% during part II.

The productivity of the two houses during the crucial ‘Question Hour’ is equally impressive. In Lok Sabha, the ‘Question Hour’ functioned for 93 % of its scheduled time while in Rajya Sabha the percentage stands at 72%.

The Lok Sabha, in fact, broke the record of maximum number of orally answered questions in last 15 years. A total of 145 questions were orally answered in Lok Sabha in this session, the highest in the past 15 years.

This session has will also be remembered for highest percentage of Bills introduced and passed within same session in 10 years.

In terms of legislative business, 9 bills were introduced and 17 bills were passed by both houses during the Session.

Rajya Sabha passed five Bills while Lok Sabha passed one Bill without any debate.

Interestingly, 12 of the 17 Bills passed in this session were not referred to any Parliamentary Standing or Select Committee.

The Lok Sabha worked for a total of 198.1 hours while the Rajya Sabha functioned for a total of 150.2 hours.

The Budget Session 2016 was convened from February 23 to March 16, and from April 25 to May 13, 2016. However, during the recess period, Parliament was prorogued to allow the government to issue an Ordinance. When Parliament convened again on April 25, 2016, it was a new session.

PRS Legislative Research, however, has clarified that for this analysis, these two sessions have been treated as one Budget session.

Monsoon session

The Hindu, August 12, 2016

Samarth Bansal

The Monsoon Session of Parliament was ‘highly productive’, Mr. Hamid Ansari, Chairman of Rajya Sabha, mentioned in the valedictory remarks at the conclusion of the session today. Various bills were passed and a variety of issues were discussed in the 20 sittings of the house that lasted over 112 hours.

Rajya Sabha met for 96 per cent of its scheduled time in the current session compared to 76 per cent in the previous sessions since May 2014, which implies that lesser time was lost to disruptions. Lok Sabha met for 101 per cent of its scheduled time, almost similar (102 per cent) to the previous sessions of the current Parliament.

Both houses sat for extra time on most days.

Rajya Sabha set beyond its scheduled time on 14 of the 20 days of this session whereas Lok Sabha did so on 11 days.

Parliament has regularly been discussing a variety of issues since 2004, including internal security, inflation, natural calamities, agriculture and corruption.

Where did Parliament spend its time?

Rajya Sabha spent 29 per cent of its time and Lok Sabha spent 38 per cent of its time on legislative purposes.

Rajya Sabha spent most of its time — 52 per cent — and Lok Sabha spent 40 per cent of its time on non-legislative business, discussing issues like inflation, atrocities against Dalits and recent incidents in Kashmir.

Bills passed

Seven of the 14 bills that were introduced were passed in this session itself. This includes Lokpal and Lokayuktas (Amendment) Bill which was passed in less than half an hour in each House, the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill and the Maternity Benefits (Amendment) Bill were introduced and passed by one House on the same day. Overall, 14 bills were passed in this session.

Fewer Bills being referred to committees

Only 31 per cent of the bills introduced in the 16th Lok Sabha have been referred to a Parliamentary committee, compared to 71 per cent in 15th Lok Sabha and 60 per cent in 14th Lok Sabha. During this session, the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill was referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee for detailed examination.

How much time does it take to pass an amendment?

Of the total 101 amendments made to the Constitution of India, 11 took more than a year to be passed, including the GST Constitutional Amendment Bill which was passed in this session. Others that took over a year provide for the Right to Education and State Level Rent Control Tribunals. An amendment related to co-operative societies took over two years to get passed.

Previously, three amendments, the ones relating to proclamation of emergency in states and inclusion of languages, have been passed in less than a day.

2017

Budget session

Gyan Varma & anujaAnuja , Budget session a winner for govt, Narendra Modi tells MPs, April 12, 2017: Livemint

Productive time, second half of the Budget session in 2017: Lok Sabha-2014, data as of April 10, 2017; Gyan Varma & anujaAnuja , Budget session a winner for govt, Narendra Modi tells MPs, April 12, 2017: Livemint

Lok Sabha passed 21 bills while Rajya Sabha passed 14 bills, including the crucial GST bills, in the budget session of the Parliament

New Delhi: The second half of the budget session of Parliament, which ends on Wednesday, has been favourable to the ruling National Democratic Alliance, which not only managed to push its economic reforms agenda but also put up a united front. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday told the parliamentary party of the Bharatiya Janata Party that the session was a victory for the Union government.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi told BJP parliamentarians that BJP was victorious in the budget session because apart from bills related to crucial goods and services tax (GST), Lok Sabha passed 21 bills while Rajya Sabha passed 14 bills,” said Ananth Kumar, parliamentary affairs minister.

The BJP leadership is also upbeat because its recent victories in assembly polls have silenced the opposition. BJP leaders have argued that the wins in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur showed government policies were appreciated by the people.

According to data by New Delhi-based PRS Legislative Research, productivity in the second half of the budget session as of Monday for Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha was 112% and 87%, respectively. A total of 12 bills were passed by both the houses, including The Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2016, The Mental Health Care Bill, 2013, The Maternity Benefits (Amendment) Bill, 2016, The Payment of Wages (Amendment) Bill, 2017 and the four supporting bills to roll out the GST.

Work got done despite the government and opposition parties being locked in a bitter political tussle on issues such as racial attacks on Indians in the US, petrol and diesel price hike, whether Aadhaar was needed to access welfare benefits, and allegations that Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were tampered with.

“The country expected that at the end of the budget session, thanks to the debates and the information provided by the government, there would be greater clarity about the state of the economy. Unfortunately, there is no such clarity. At the end of the session, we are no wiser than we were at the beginning of the session,” P. Chidambaram, former Union finance minister and senior Congress leader, said in a press release, adding that from the point of view of assessing the state of the economy, this was an “unsatisfactory” session. Wednesday will mark the end of the budget session which began on 31 January and was held in two parts, including a month-long recess.

Monsoon session

Rajya Sabha logged 80% productivity, Lok Sabha 78% this session , Aug 12, 2017: The Times of India

NEW DELHI: The monsoon session of Parliament came to an end with Rajya Sabha working for nearly 79.95% of the scheduled hours and the Lok Sabha clocking a shade lesser sitting for 77.94% of its allotted time. The lower House, however, passed more bills as compared to the upper House which spent more time on non-legislative business.

A higher proportion of the productive time (nearly 40%) in Lok Sabha was spent on legislative business including passing of 14 bills. However, the lower House also saw suspension of six Congress members for five days for hurling papers at the Chair.

On the other hand, a higher proportion of the time was spent on non-legislative business (nearly 42%) in Rajya Sabha which discussed incidents of mob violence and lynching, India's foreign policy and agrarian crisis facing the country among other issues in its 19 sittings during the monsoon session from July 17 to August 11. The Upper House passed nine bills.

One of the highlights of the session was M Venkaiah Naidu taking over as the new Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. Another landmark moment was the special discussion in both Houses to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the country's 'Quit India Movement'.

Parliamentary affairs minister Ananth Kumar, addressing a press conference after end of the session, said passing of the the bills relating to extension of GST to J&K was a "historic achievement" as it will lead to economic integration of the state with rest of the country.

"Thirteen bills were passed by both the Houses. This has been an achievement considering that it was a short session ," said Kumar.

Besides the bills relating to extension of GST to J&K, the other bills which were passed by both the Houses include National Institutes of Technology, Science Education and Research (Amendment) Bill, Indian Institutes of Information Technology (Public Private Partnership) Bill, Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Bill and the Banking Regulation (Amendment) Bill, 2017.

See also

The 15th Lok Sabha: 2009-14/ The 16th Lok Sabha (2014- ): MPs complete list of MPs / The 16th Lok Sabha (2014- ): trends