Parliament diary: Loksabha Speaker organises \'Swachhata Abhiyan\' in Parliament

In a first, Loksabha Speaker Om Birla has organised a “Swachhata Abhiyan”” in the Parliament House complex tomorrow and Sunday. Generally, most MPs leave Delhi on Friday for their respective constituencies. However, this time all ministers and MPs have been requested to attend the "Swachhata Abhiyan" at 9 am in the morning. Members have been alloted different areas for the Abhiyan. The holidays of all staff members have also been cancelled for Saturday and Sunday. Ruling party MPs have been instructed to show up at the programme. Apart from the Speaker,Rajya Sabha chairman and Vice-President Venkiah Naidu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi may also attend the programme. The Speaker’s initiative is part of the government’s Swachh Bharat Abhiyan or Swachh Bharat Mission, which is a campaign to keep India clean.

BJP wants to rename Sealdaha stn in Kolkata after Mookherjee
After the Uttar Pradesh government renamed Mughalsarai station after BJP ideologue Deen Dayal Upadhaya, the BJP has started a campaign to name Kolkata's Sealdaha station after Jan Sangh founder Shyama Prasad Mookherjee. BJP MP from Hooghly Locket Chatterjee raised the issue in the Lok Sabha and her demand has already reached railway minister Piyush Goel’s office. BJP MPs from West Bengal were expecting a decision on Friday, when Mr Goyal was replying to the debate on railways. But since there was no such announcement, they are planning to meet the minister and apprise him about the demand. Mookherjee, whose 118th birth anniversary was celebrated recently, founded the Jan Sangh in 1951. He died in June 1953 while opposing the ID card rule for Indians in Kashmir.

Private member's Bill introduced to declare Pakistan 'terrorist state'
For the first time in Lok Sabha, BJP MP Sanjay Jaiswal tabled a private member's Bill to declare Pakistan as a terrorist state. The Bill would be taken up later if the there is enough time remaining in the Budget session. Interestngly , the Bill was cleared by the President of India to table in the Loksabha which is the normal procedure. Moreover, the Government Of India has decided to create a public opinion on this issue. It has been a long-standing demand of the BJP and RSS to declare Pakistan as a 'terrorist state'. But no positive stand has been taken so far by the Indian Government. When the bill will be taken up for discussion, the external affairs ministry ois expected to take a stand on the issue.