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PremiumLok Sabha Session Highlights: The first session of the 18th Lok Sabha began on Monday with the oath-taking ceremony by newly elected members of the Lower House, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Earlier in the day, President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath to BJP lawmaker Bhartruhari Mahtab as the protem Speaker of the Lok Sabha. On June 26, the Lok Sabha Speaker will also be elected, followed by President Murmu’s address to a joint sitting of both Houses the next day, June 27. The session will conclude on July 3.
The session is expected to witness the Opposition alliance INDIA bloc targeting the NDA government on several issues, including rising prices, food inflation, deaths due to an unprecedented heatwave, and recent irregularities in exam administration, including NEET UG, NEET PG, UGC NET, and others. These irregularities have caused unrest among students and raised concerns about the effectiveness of the institutions responsible for conducting exams.
This marks the first session of the 18th Lok Sabha following the general elections, in which the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) secured 293 seats, the INDIA bloc obtained 234 seats, and the Congress party held 99 of those seats.
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Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Sunday reached out to Trinamool Congress leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay on the eve of the first session of the 18th Lok Sabha, amid a face-off with the opposition INDIA bloc over the appointment of BJP leader Bhartuhari Mahtab as the pro-tem Speaker.
Rijiju's meeting with Bandyopadhyay came against the backdrop of the opposition alliance's decision to pull out its members from the panel of chairpersons that will assist Mahtab in conducting the proceedings of the Lok Sabha till the election of the Speaker on Wednesday.
First session of 18th Lok Sabha: As a symbol of unity, all INDIA bloc MPs will enter the Lok Sabha together. They will assemble where the statue of Mahatma Gandhi was placed earlier. They are likely to carry a copy of the Constitution: Sources
The Samajwadi Party (SP) will convene a crucial meeting of its MPs at the Parliamentary Party Office at the Parliament House in Delhi at 10 a.m. today before the commencement of the first Parliament session, after the conclusion of the Lok Sabha polls 2024, sources said.
The meeting will be held under the chairmanship of party chief Akhilesh Yadav.
In a post on X, Rijiju said he shall always be available to assist the members of Parliament as the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs.
"The First Session of the 18th Lok Sabha begins today, the 24th June, 2024. I welcome all the newly elected Hon'ble members. I shall be always available to assist the members as Minister of Parliamentary Affairs. I'm positively looking forward to co-ordination to run the house," Rijiju said.
Lok Sabha MPs from the INDIA bloc will assemble in the Parliament complex Monday morning and will march to the House together on the first day of the first session of 18th Lok Sabha, sources said.
The MPs will gather near Gate No 2 of the old Parliament building, where the Gandhi statue once stood, a senior opposition party leader said.
India bloc MPs will not sit on the Speaker's chair to assist the Protem Speaker during the oath-taking ceremony of MPs.
Congress and India Bloc parties are upset with the fact that, tradition has been broken, 7-time BJP MP Bhratruhari Mehtab was made the Pro-tem Speaker instead of the 8-time Congress MP K Suresh: Sources
The first session of the 18th Lok Sabha will begin on Monday, which will witness the oath-taking ceremony of newly-elected Members of Parliament, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The first session is expected to be stormy as the opposition is likely to corner the BJP-led NDA government on the election of the Speaker on June 26, discussions regarding allegations of paper leaks in NEET-UG and UGC-NET, and row over the appointment of the pro-tem Speaker.
