No debate, no discussion, but with a voice vote in the din of noisy protests, Union Budget 2018-19, the last full budget of the Narendra Modi government, was passed in the Lok Sabha a little after noon, on Wednesday, where after the house was adjourned for the day. Earlier, too, there was an adjournment till 12 noon. Some MPs were heard commenting that it was just as well, as they could go to track the results of the Uttar Pradesh and Bihar byelections.
Opposition parties added one more reason to their protest soon after the Finance Bill 2018 and the Appropriation Bill were passed. There was time to debate and discuss the bills till April 6 when the session is slated to end, many leaders maintained.
The government applied what is called “guillotine”—passing by voice votes whether or not a bill have been debated. Finance Minister Arun Jaitely moved the Finance Bill 2018 and the Appropriation Bill to go with it.
The bills will now go to the Rajya Sabha, where they will have to be approved within two weeks. The opposition is strong in the Rajya Sabha, but sources in the ruling party did not seem to see any hitch.
The opposition has been noisily protesting in the Lok Sabha over various issues since March 5, when Parliament reconvened after the recess in the budget session. The house witnessed repeated adjournments as Congress, TDP, TRS, and AIADMK stuck to their position over Nirav Modi's escape and the PNB fraud, special category status for Andhra Pradesh, and a board to manage the Cauvery waters.