Parliament Budget Session 2026 Highlights: Govt assures energy security at all-party meet, says LPG supplies on track

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Both Houses have been adjourned for the day.

An all-party meeting lasting nearly 1 hour 45 minutes saw the government assure leaders that India’s energy situation remains under control despite global disruptions. Sources said the Centre emphasised adequate energy security, ongoing talks with multiple countries, and a proactive geopolitical stance. Addressing concerns over LPG supplies via the Strait of Hormuz, the government said four ships are set to dock within the next 4–5 days. Opposition queries were taken on board, with officials stressing there is no cause for concern.

-Piyush Mishra input

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the Finance Bill will be taken up in the Rajya Sabha on March 27, even though it is designated as a non-official business day for MPs, citing its importance. He added that earlier plans to hold sittings over the weekend have been dropped, and Parliament will remain closed on Saturday and Sunday, with normal proceedings resuming on March 30 as scheduled.

An all-party meeting on the West Asia crisis began at Parliament House on Wednesday, chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh with senior leaders from the government and Opposition in attendance. The meeting, convened to review the evolving situation, is being held amid heightened geopolitical tensions in the region.

Union ministers Amit Shah, Kiren Rijiju, Nirmala Sitharaman, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri are present. Leaders from several parties, including Sasmit Patra (BJD), Lallan Singh (JD(U)), Mukul Wasnik and Tariq Anwar (Congress), Dharmendra Yadav (SP) and John Brittas (CPI(M)), have also joined the meeting.

(Inputs from Himanshu Mishra)

The Centre has said that caste-related questions will be included in the second phase of Census 2027, known as the Population Enumeration phase. In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said the questionnaire for this phase, including caste-related queries, will be notified before the exercise begins. He added that the final questionnaire has not yet been prepared, with inputs currently being sought from various ministries, departments and organisations.

The government said the final set of questions will be issued through an official notification ahead of the start of the second phase.

The BJP and the Opposition on Wednesday clashed over the Centre’s move to convene an all-party meeting on the West Asia conflict, with Congress and its allies calling the step delayed and questioning the government’s handling of foreign policy.

Opposition leaders also raised concerns over the absence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the meeting, saying such discussions during major global crises are typically led by the PM. The meeting was convened after Modi’s address in Parliament on the issue.

The BJP hit back, accusing the Opposition of politicising a sensitive matter. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is likely to chair the meeting, with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar expected to be present.

The anti-corruption ombudsman Lokpal of India received 389 complaints in 2025-26 till February, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said on Wednesday. In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Singh said 336 of these complaints have been disposed of so far in the current financial year. He added that in 2024-25, the Lokpal registered 292 complaints and disposed of 260.

In 2023-24, 166 complaints were filed, of which 16 were disposed of. In 2022-23, 320 complaints were registered and 316 disposed of, while in 2021-22, 147 of the 149 complaints filed were cleared, the minister said.

Congress MP Mallu Ravi on Wednesday criticised provisions in the Finance Bill, alleging that amendments are effectively choking foreign funding to NGOs in India. “While the Finance Bill has been passed, certain amendments are systematically stopping foreign support to NGOs,” Ravi said. He argued that such funding often aids vulnerable and backward sections of society, and its restriction would hurt welfare efforts. “The government is neither serving the people nor allowing others to serve them,” he added, accusing the Centre of limiting external assistance that benefits marginalised communities.

After JDU Party leader in Lok Sabha, Dileshwar Kamait, submitted a notice to the Speaker of Lok Sabha to disqualify him for anti-party activities, JDU MP Girdhari Yadav said,""I will answer the Speaker when I am asked and I will give evidence. I have been supporting Nitish Kumar ever since I joined the party in 2010. I have no idea why such a notice was served against me."

(ANI)

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has hit out at DMK and Trinamool Congress for allegedly disrespecting her.

Delivering her speech during the budget session, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman accused Trinamool Congress of exploiting the tea workers in West Bengal. 

She also said that Trinamool Congress is following the path of the CPIM and leading Bengal, which used to be a happening industrial hub, to destruction.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has hit out at DMK and Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, MK Stalin, for allegedly opposing the Women's Reservation Bill. 

She said that he, along with his entire party stands against the rights of women.

DMK MP Thamizhachi Thangapandian says, "Initially, it was linked with the delimitation. What is the hurry to do it, when five states face elections? We demand a proper consultation with all the opposition parties to mull over it, then we will take a decision. This does not mean we are against it."

(ANI)

"The way the government has behaved towards Iran, which has been our friend for decades, and the way it has treated Iran, I believe that is precisely why the country is now struggling with the LPG problem today," said Samajwadi Party MP Dimple Yadav.

(ANI)

Azad Samaj Party Chief Chandrasekhar Azad said that India is going through a crisis caused by the West Asia war because of its weak foreign policy.

"This is an invited crisis. If our foreign policy were sound, and we made decisions with the future in mind, we would have considered how crises could arise... More than a hundred Navy and Iranian soldiers have lost their lives, but our country has remained silent. This crisis is faced not by politicians but by the people... The Prime Minister thinks that merely making speeches will suffice, while it is not the case... You promised us one chance in twelve years, and the people gave you 3... The government should answer what their policies are, what their preparations are for the future, he told ANI.

Activists on Wednesday termed the passage of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill, 2026, in the Lok Sabha a "black day" for the community, saying that the government is in a hurry to pass it in the Rajya Sabha as well.

(PTI)
 

Several Opposition MPs staged a protest in the Parliament House complex on Wednesday over the reported LPG supply crunch. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, NCP(SP)'s Supriya Sule, SP's Dharmendra Yadav, CPI-ML's Sudama Prasad, DMK's T Sumathy, JMM's Mahua Maji, among others, participated in the protest near the Makar Dwar of Parliament. With a huge banner stating 'Empty Cylinders, Empty Promises', the MPs raised slogans against the government.

(PTI)

"We want to have an all-party meeting after the elections are over. We all want the Women's Reservation Bill to be implemented so that maximum number of women can benefit from it," says JMM MP Mahua Maji on the legislation.

(ANI)

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday posted on 'X' that he has chaired the Parliamentary Consultative Committee meeting on the Border Roads Organisation.