Parliament Session highlights: Both Houses adjourned for the day

The leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, along with other opposition leaders, met Speaker Om Birla in his chamber in Parliament today. Watch video.

On the President's remarks on the Emergency in her address to Parliament, BJP MP Giriraj Singh tells ANI: "If anyone has hurt the Constitution, it has been the Congress party. The new generation has the right to know about that period."

On the President's remarks on the Emergency in her address to Parliament, BJP MP Arun Govil tells ANI: "We can't simply forget what happened in the past. Congress never mentions what they did with the Constitution but only talks about saving the Constitution now."

Samajwadi Party (SP) MP RK Chaudhary has triggered a controversy by demanding the removal of the sacred 'Sengol' from the Lok Sabha, prompting reactions from the Opposition and BJP leaders.

Claiming it as a 'Raja Ka danda' (the king's stick) or an anachronistic symbol of monarchy in democracy, Chaudhary said that the Sengol should be replaced by a large replica of the Constitution in the Parliament. Read more.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh has questioned Sansad TV's coverage of the President's address.

In a post on X, Ramesh claims that Prime Minister Modi was shown' 73 times' in the 51-minute President's address, while Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi was shown only 6 times.

On President Droupadi Murmu's address, AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi tells ANI: "In the entire address, there was no mention of minorities or unemployment. US State Secretary Antony Blinken said yesterday that there has been an increase in hate speech in India and religious places of minorities are getting demolished. There was nothing new in the address, it was like an old wine in a new bottle...Re-NEET should have been done. There are paper leaks everywhere. They are playing with the lives of 25 lakh youth and their families..."

On President Droupadi Murmu's address, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor tells ANI: "There was no logic of talking about Emergency in the address after 49 years. She should have spoken about today's issues. We did not hear anything about the NEET exam or unemployment...The word Manipur did not come out from President Murmu or PM Modi. Issues like the India-China border should have been taken up in the address..."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday introduced his Council of Ministers in the Rajya Sabha, amid clapping and thumping of desks.

The prime minister had introduced his Council of Ministers in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday after the election of the speaker.

Leader of the House J P Nadda, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress leader Sonia Gandhi were among those present in the House.

Thursday was the first day of the 264th session of the Rajya Sabha. The House met after President Droupadi Murmu addressed a joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday reacted to the President's Address to the joint session of both Houses of Parliament and said that it is a tradition and the speech in reality represents the government's views.

"This is the tradition and it happens every time. We listen to the President. That is actually the speech of the Government," said Akhilesh Yadav.

Speaking on the same, Congress MP Pramod Tiwari lashed out at the centre and called it a tired, defeated and crippled government that lacks willpower, adding to that he said, "There is nothing for the benefit of the nation, how will this government function? There is nothing new they talk about. It seems that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has no regrets over the 2024 Lok Sabha election results."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweets "Rashtrapati Droupadi Murmu's address to both Houses of Parliament was comprehensive and presented a roadmap of progress and good governance. It covered the strides India has been making and also the potential that lies ahead. Her address also mentioned some of the major challenges we have to collectively overcome to ensure a qualitative change in the lives of our citizens."

TMC MP Mahua Moitra, on President Droupadi Murmu's address to joint sitting of Parliament, said, "As per the rules, the President reads the speech written by the government. So, the problem of the government is that it is yet understand that it has come down to 240 (seats) from 303 (seats). The speech that they prepared for the President was based on 303 (seats). This is a minority government, but she said that the government has clear majority."

PM Modi introduces Cabinet in Rajya Sabha

Six new MPs take oath as members of Rajya Sabha

“The government claims that we are the world’s fifth largest economy and soon going to be the third largest economy. Then why are farmers facing crisis? Why are the youths unemployed on such a large scale? The country cannot grow with the growth of a few people,” says Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav

Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar informs the House about the appointment of Union Minister and BJP MP Jagat Prakash Nadda as the Leader of the House.

Lok Sabha adjourned for the day

"The people of India have always demonstrated complete trust in democracy and expressed full faith in the electoral institutions. We need to preserve and protect this trust to sustain our robust democracy. We must realise that hurting the faith of people in democratic institutions and the electoral process is like cutting the very branch on which we all are sitting," President Murmu said.

"We should collectively denounce every attempt to undermine the credibility of our democracy," she added.

President Droupadi Murmu addresses a joint session of both Houses of Parliament, she says "How the world's view of India has changed, we have all experienced this in the G7 Summit held in Italy. India has united the world on many issues during its G20 presidency. It is during India's presidency that the African Union has been made the 27th member of G20. This has strengthened the trust of the African continent as well as the entire Global South. Following the Neighbourhood First policy, India has strengthened its relations with the neighbouring countries. Leaders of 7 neighbouring countries participated in the swearing-in ceremony of the Union Council of Ministers on 9th June...Whether it is East Asia or the Middle East and Europe, my government is giving a lot of importance to connectivity. The vision of India has started giving shape to the India-Middle East Economic Corridor. This corridor will be one of the biggest game changers of the 21st century..."

Amidst ongoing controversey around the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), President Draupadi Murmu while addressing the Joint session of the Parliament said the government would take tough action on the case.

"My government is working towards rectifying the functioning of the agency responsible for conducting the examination (National Testing Agency) along with improving the processes involved in the conduction of the exam," said President Murmu while addressing the joint sitting of Parliament ahead of the Budget session.

The opposition had earlier raised a demand for a Supreme Court-montioned investigation into the NEET-UG paper leak matter. President Murmu said, "The government is making concerted efforts to allow the youth of the country to showcase their talent and skills and any delay in the conduction of examinations is undesirable." While urging to abandon party politics on examination related matters, President Murmu said, "The recent paper leak issue should be impartially investigated and my government is committed towards punishing those responsible.

The opposition had raised many demands including an increased transparency and timely conduction of examinations along with filling up vacancies in time.

"The people of India have always demonstrated complete trust in democracy and expressed full faith in the electoral institutions. We need to preserve and protect this trust to sustain our robust democracy. We must realise that hurting the faith of people in democratic institutions and the electoral process is like cutting the very branch on which we all are sitting," President Murmu said.

"We should collectively denounce every attempt to undermine the credibility of our democracy," she added.

AAP MP Sanjay Singh says, "When his bail was to be approved by the Supreme Court, when there was every possibility of his release from the Supreme Court, at that time Kejriwal ji was arrested by the CBI...So I think that this is a very big example of dictatorship and the Prime Minister should speak on the misuse of investigation agencies, this should be stopped, and Arvind Kejriwal should be released. Today we have gathered here with this demand, we are registering our protest and we have full respect for the President. But the speech of the President is a speech written by the government, in that official speech she will say big things about democracy, in the official speech she will say big things about the Constitution, but the ground reality is that the Constitution and democracy of India are being crushed in the entire country..."

President Droupadi Murmu addresses a joint session of both Houses of Parliament, she says "Today, India is performing well in many areas. If India performs well in the world in terms of digital payments, then we should be proud. If Indian scientists successfully land Chandrayaan on the southern side of the moon, then we should be proud. If India becomes the fastest-growing economy in the world, then we should be proud. If India completes such a big election without much violence, then also we should be proud. Today, the whole world respects us as the Mother of Democracy. The people of India have always expressed their full faith in democracy. They have expressed full trust in the institutions related to elections. To maintain a healthy democracy, we have to preserve this faith. We also have to protect it...We remember the time when ballot papers were looted and snatched away. In order to make the voting process secure, it was decided to adopt EVMs. In the past several decades, EVMs have crossed many hurdles from the Supreme Court..."

President Droupadi Murmu says, "Today, our youth is getting fresh opportunities even in sports. As a result of the effective efforts of my government, young athletes of India are winning medals on international platforms, in record numbers. Paris Olympics will begin in a few days, we are proud of all the athletes who will represent India. I extend my best wishes to them. To take these achievements further ahead, Indian Olympic Association is preparing to host 2036 Olympics."

President Droupadi Murmu addresses a joint session of both Houses of Parliament, she says "In the coming few months, India is going to complete 75 years as a Republic. The Indian Constitution has withstood every challenge and test in the past decades. Even after the Constitution was implemented in the country, there have been many attacks on the Constitution. Emergency implemented on 25th June 1975 was a direct attack on the Constitution. When it was imposed, there was an uproar in the entire country. But the country has shown victory over such Constitutional forces. My government also cannot make the Indian constitution just a medium of governance. We are making efforts to make our Constitution, a part of public consciousness. With this, my government has started celebrating 26 November as Constitution Day. The Constitution has been fully implemented in our Jammu and Kashmir, where the situation was different due to Article 370..."

President Droupadi Murmu leaves from Lok Sabha after concluding her address to a joint session of both Houses of the Parliament.