Feb 12 News Live: BJP MP Dubey moves substantive motion against Rahul Gandhi

Rajya Sabha clears panel elections by voice vote

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs L. Murugan moved motions in the Rajya Sabha to elect members to the Committees on Public Accounts, Public Undertakings, and the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

The House approved the proposals by voice vote, clearing the way for the committees to be constituted.

Lok Sabha adjourned till 12 noon

Lok Sabha had barely begun its sitting when Opposition members disrupted proceedings with loud protests.

With Krishna Prasad Tenneti presiding, Question Hour was taken up amid continuous sloganeering. As the din persisted and several members moved into the Well of the House, the Chair stepped in and suspended the session until 12 noon.

Multiple committee reports, key bills in Lok Sabha today

A series of committee reports and legislative motions are scheduled to be tabled in the Lok Sabha on Thursday as the Budget Session continues.

According to the day’s listed business, BJP MPs Manoj Tiwari and Chandra Prakash Joshi will submit the fourth report of the Committee on Petitions, addressing a representation by Parameswaran Krishna Iyer over penalties imposed for failing to maintain minimum bank balances. Reports from the Committee on Government Assurances will also be presented by BJP members Harendra Singh Malik and Rajkumar Chahar.

Bhartruhari Mahtab of the BJP and Arun Bharti of LJP (RV) are set to table the 29th report on government action taken in response to recommendations by the Standing Committee on Finance regarding India’s economic growth strategy amid global uncertainty.

Motions seeking more time to present reports on the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, and the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2025, will be moved. Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya is expected to introduce amendments to the Industrial Relations Code, 2020, for consideration and passage.

BJP may move a privilege motion against Rahul Gandhi today

Proceedings commence in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on Thursday (February 12). The BJP is expected to initiate a privilege motion against Lok Sabha Opposition Leader Rahul Gandhi following his remarks in the House that targeted the proposed India–US trade agreement and the Union Budget, reported NDTV, quoting sources.

Speaking on Wednesday, the Congress leader ranged across subjects including global tensions, the rise of artificial intelligence and the contours of the trade pact with Washington. His address came after several days of disruption by Opposition members, who objected to him being prevented from speaking when he referred to former Army Chief General M.M. Naravane’s yet-to-be-released memoir.

Opposition MPs have indicated they will continue their demonstrations on Thursday at Makar Dwar, citing what they describe as “anti-people clauses” in the trade deal and expressing solidarity with protesting farmers.

The Budget Session began on January 28 and is scheduled to run for 30 sittings spread across 65 days, ending April 2. Parliament will break on February 13 and resume on March 9, allowing departmental standing committees time to scrutinise ministries’ demands for grants.

Priyanka Chaturvedi slams Centre over India-US trade deal, backs Opposition protest

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said the Opposition was concerned that the India-US trade deal could allow foreign goods to flood Indian markets, adversely affecting farmers and small traders.

Opposition MPs protest India-US trade agreement in Parliament

Opposition MPs staged a protest in the Parliament premises against the India-US trade agreement. The lawmakers raised slogans and expressed concerns over the deal, alleging that it could adversely impact domestic industries and compromise national interests.

Mamata Banerjee expresses shock over Pune murder of Bengal migrant worker

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday (February 12) expressed shock and anger over the murder of Sukhen Mahato, a 24-year-old migrant worker from Purulia who was working in Pune, Maharashtra.

Taking to social media platform X, Mamata said, “I am shaken, enraged, and sickened beyond words by the barbaric murder of Sukhen Mahato, a 24-year-old migrant worker from Bandwan in Purulia, the sole earning member of his family, in Pune, Maharashtra. This is nothing short of a hate crime. A young man was hunted, tortured, and murdered for his language, his identity, his roots. This is the direct consequence of a climate where xenophobia is weaponised and innocents are turned into targets. I demand immediate arrests and exemplary punishment of the perpetrators. And to Sukhen’s family, I say that Bengal stands with you in this hour of unimaginable grief. No effort will be spared to secure justice.”

Trade unions hold day-long strike; services likely to be partly affected

Employees and workers associated with a joint forum of central trade unions observed a day-long strike on Thursday (February 12) to show their "resistance to anti-worker, anti-farmer and anti-national pro-corporate policies of the central government".

The forum has claimed that 30 crore workers are being mobilised for a "general strike" to protest against the new labour codes, among other issues. All India Trade Union Congress General Secretary Amarjeet Kaur told PTI that the general strike started across the country on Thursday morning, and that she has received reports of the agitation from states, including Assam, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, Kerala, Odisha and Bihar.

She added that processions have started in industrial areas of New Delhi and that traffic on the roads is relatively light. Kaur said banking, insurance, postal, transport, health, coal and non-coal mines, gas pipeline and electricity sectors will be affected by the strike. She further said the farmers’ unions would also hold protests in their respective areas.

Their immediate demands include the scrapping of four labour codes and rules, withdrawal of the Draft Seed Bill and Electricity Amendment Bill, and the ''Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Act''. The unions are also demanding the restoration of MGNREGA and the scrapping of the VB–G RAM G. The joint forum includes INTUC, AITUC, HMS, CITU, AIUTUC, SEWA, AICCTU, LPF and UTUC.

Rahul Gandhi extends support to nationwide strike

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday extended his full support to the nationwide strike being observed by workers and farmers.

In a post on X, Rahul alleged that the government ignored the voices of workers and farmers while making decisions concerning their future and asked whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi will listen to them now or if there is a "grip" on him too strong.

Rahul's attack on the government came a day after he alleged that the India-US interim trade deal was a "wholesale surrender", with India's energy security handed over to America and farmers' interests compromised.

Rahul said, "Today, lakhs of workers and farmers across the country are on the streets to raise their voices for their rights." He said that the workers fear that the four labour codes will weaken their rights.

"Farmers fear that the trade agreement (with the US) will harm their livelihoods. And weakening or eliminating MNREGA could take away the last source of support for villages," the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha said. "Will Modiji listen now? Or is there a 'grip' on him that is too strong? I stand firmly with the issues and struggles of workers and farmers," he said.

Sensex slips 400 points, Nifty below 25,850

Stock markets fell at the open on Thursday (February 12), dragged by the selling pressure in information technology (IT) shares.

The BSE Sensex index was at 83,825, falling 409 points or 0.49 per cent, while the Nifty50 was at 25,841, lower by 113 points or 0.44 per cent.

More than 30 stocks on the Nifty50 index were trading with losses, weighed by Infosys (down 3.5 per cent), Tech M, HCL Tech, TCS, Wipro, Eternal, IndiGo, M&M, SBI Life, HDFC Life, Hindalco, and Titan Company.

On the higher side, ONGC, ICICI Bank, NTPC, Eicher Motors, Axis Bank, Power Grid, Coal India, and HUL lent some support.

In the broader market, the Nifty MidCap index dropped 0.78 per cent, and the Nifty SmallCap index slipped 0.98 per cent.

Among sectors, the Nifty IT was the worst hit, down 3.75 per cent. That apart, the Nifty Pharma, and PSU Bank indices edged lower by 0.5 per cent each.