The Opposition on Monday lashed out at the Government for "fomenting social divide in the country, failing to provide jobs and unable to secure the border with China". The treasury, however, said the nation was on the "path of rapid progress".
Participating in the debate of motion of thanks to the President’s Address, Congress leader Anand Sharma said the document did not mention anything about national security. Sharma said more than one lakh troops from India and China were facing each other in Ladakh but the government was yet to apprise Parliament about the situation there.
He said during the height of the 1962 conflict with China, Parliament discussed the situation there with then MP Atal Bihari Vajpayee taking part in it. Sharma also criticised the move to subsume the flame at Amar Jawan Jyoti into the eternal flame at National War Memorial.
The senior Congress leader also urged the ruling combine to stop deriding the previous governments and said they had set up institutions like the Indian Institute of Technology and Bhakra Nangal dam.
Sharma also expressed concern over the rising trend of hate speeches and urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take note of them. Modi will reply to the President’s Address on Tuesday in the Rajya Sabha.
Former prime minister and JDS leader H D Devegowda raised concerns over the "decline" in the overall allocation for agriculture in the Budget and said it has disappointed those expecting an increase in the outlay for the sector.
Devegowda claimed an appeal to remove GST from all farm inputs was left unheard. The subsidy on food and petroleum products was decreased which would impact the cost of cultivation and cost inputs, he said, adding the budget allocation for agriculture and allied sectors has disappointed all those who were expecting an increased outlay.
Prakash Javadeka(BJP)said it was "strange" that those who allegedly issued orders of firing on devotees of Lord Ram were today claiming that they will build the Ram Temple faster.
It was in an apparent reference to the firing on kar sewaks in Ayodhya during the Mulayam Singh Yadav government.
Referring to Ram Setu, Javadekar claimed that (those part of) the party whose government gave an affidavit in court that Lord Ram was a fictional character is now saying they will build the Ram Temple quickly.
On Covaxin, Javadekar said some people called the COVID-19 vaccine the ''BJP's vaccine" and refused to take it but when Prime Minister Narendra Modi took Covaxin it silenced all the critics globally. Referring to Congress leader Digvijaya Singh's speech, Javadekar said he claimed that subsidies have been reduced in the present regime when in fact the theft of subsidy has been plugged by the government.
Participating in the debate, while Minister for State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale said that the country has progressed under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, Rakesh Sinha (BJP Nominated) accused the Congress of being soft towards China.