Monsoon Session of Parliament, Day 2: Live updates

NEW DELHI: The second day of the Monsoon session of Parliament on Thursday is expected to see fireworks by opposition members who have been targetting the Narendra Modi led Central government over a barrage of issues. On the first day of the session itself, opposition parties moved a no-confidence motion against the Centre. However, the Centre has exuded confidence and claimed that it has enough numbers to prove its majority in the House. 

Stay with us for live updates of the second day of Monsoon Session:

19 July 2018

17:17 PM

I think there are intellectuals in opposition but they should've done it later. Because we have the numbers and our moral is also up. I haven't left BJP and party hasn't' left me. As long as I'm in BJ P, I'll support it and follow every whip: BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha

17:15 PM

The Congress issues three-line whip to its MPs to be present in Lok Sabha for the no-confidence motion.

13:26 PM

After walking out from the Lok Sabha, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said they were unsatisfied with Rajnath Singh's statement. "The Home Minister's statement in Lok Sabha on mob lynching was not satisfactory at all, that is why we staged a walkout from the house. This is not a game of ping-pong that states and Centre keep shifting responsibilities," he said.

13:25 PM

The effective strength of Lok Sabha reduced to 533 with two more seats falling vacant after Speaker Sumitra Mahajan accepted BJD MP Baijayant Jay Panda's resignation and Jose K Mani of Kerala Congress (M) was nominated to Rajya Sabha. Mani quit the lower house after being nominated to Rajya Sabha.

13:24 PM

Opposition members in the Lok Sabha raised slogans against Civil Aviation Minister Jayant Sinha for garlanding men convicted of lynching a meat trader in Jharkhand. As soon as the minister rose to respond to a question on upgradation of airports during the Question Hour, opposition members started raising slogans. They soon rushed to the Well demanding an apology from the minister. They raised slogans such as "stop garlanding convicts" as Sinha responded to the question. Sinha, however, continued to speak.

13:01 PM

Soon after Rajnath's statement on mob lynching incidents, the Congress staged a walkout from Lok Sabha. 

13:00 PM

Amid cases of mob lynching in the country, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that while it is the responsibility of the state governments to handle the incidents of mob lynching, the Central government will not keep sitting on it. "If any of such incidents are reported I speak to the CM immediately and ask them to take strong actions against the culprits," he said.

11:10 AM

While UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday expressed confidence that the no-confidence motion will be accepted with a voice vote on Friday, the government said they had the numbers. "Sonia ji's maths is weak. They had calculated similarly in 1996. We know what happened then. Their calculation is wrong yet again. Modi government has the majority both inside and outside Parliament. NDA will vote against No Confidence Motion. NDA+ will also support us," Union Minister Ananth Kumar said.

11:09 AM

Just like the first day of the session, the YSRCP MPs continued their protest in Parliament premises seeking special status for Andhra Pradesh.

YSRCP MPs stage protest in Parliament premises demanding special status for Andhra Pradesh. #MonsoonSession pic.twitter.com/ScKBXckZpN

— ANI (@ANI) July 19, 2018

11:03 AM

Ahead of the beginning of the proceedings for the day, Congress MPs protested in Parliament premises to draw the attention to the demands of the farmers.

Congress MPs protest in Parliament premises, demanding rights for farmers. #MonsoonSession pic.twitter.com/oXqAEA81OF

— ANI (@ANI) July 19, 2018

10:59 AM

Despite the Telugu Desam Party, which has moved the motion of no confidence against the Centre, issuing a whip to its MPs one of its lawmakers announced that he would not attend the House proceedings. Anantapuramu MP JC Diwakar Reddy said he would continue to stay away when the no-trust motion moved by the TDP is taken up for discussion, and also during the entire Monsoon session.