Shiv Sena UBT MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, who presided over the Rajya Sabha session on Thursday, has addressed allegations of attempting to “humiliate” Pune MP Dr. Medha Vishram Kulkarni for speaking in Marathi instead of English. The allegations were made by @MrSinha_, a ‘Hindu rights activist’ who criticised Chaturvedi for allegedly showing bias against Marathi speakers.

Chaturvedi took to X to refute these claims and said that Dr. Kulkarni spoke in Marathi without interruption. She claimed that Dr Kulkarni was repeatedly asked to sit down by her own ally, which she said was an attempt to show disrespect towards the chair. Chaturvedi also criticised @MrSinha_ for lacking an understanding of parliamentary procedures, advising him to review the rules of the Rajya Sabha.

In her post on X, Chaturvedi wrote, “This pawpaw champ bhakt is truly having a meltdown of the worst kind. Dr. Medha Kulkarni and Rajni Patil ji both spoke in Marathi and without interruption, barring when her own ally sitting in the front row had a hissy fit and asked her to sit down multiple times so that he could be disrespectful to the chair. Also paw paw champ, understand parliamentary proceedings in the RS and the rule book. Cry some more.”

@MrSinha_ had earlier criticised Chaturvedi, questioning her respect for Marathi as a language and accusing her of being disrespectful towards the Pune MP.

“Uddhav Thackeray’s RS MP Priyanka Chaturvedi tried to humiliate the MP from Pune, Maharashtra because she was speaking in Marathi but not her “posh” language English? She kept shouting at her…  What does she think of herself? And what happened to UT’s Marathi ashmita?” @MrSinha_ 

Meanwhile, many wondered how Chaturvedi was made to preside over the Rajya Sabha, a chair on which we usually see the Vice President of India. 

As per the rules of the Parliament, in the absence of the Vice President of India, who serves as the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, the responsibility of presiding over sessions falls to the Deputy Chairman or a panel of Voice Chairpersons.

Chaturvedi, a member of this panel, was tasked with the role during the session. Her varied approach to presiding, which included moments of stern reprimand and visible enthusiasm, has been noted by many on social media.

Mumbai: On Friday, General Manager of Central Railway, RK Yadav, conducted an inspection of the motorman and guard lobby at CSMT amid serious cleanliness concerns. This visit comes in response to allegations that approximately 150 dead rats had been discovered in the lobby, highlighting significant issues with hygiene and pest control.

Sources indicate that the foul smell from the dead rats had forced motormen and guards to work outside the lobby for several days. In response, Central Railway has commenced renovation work on the affected area, with completion anticipated by Monday.

During his visit, GM Yadav addressed the staff’s concerns and assured them that the renovation would be completed promptly. The GM’s inspection also included a review of the ongoing extension project for Platforms 13 and 14, which aims to enhance capacity and passenger experience. Additionally, he evaluated the newly inaugurated toilets in the suburban concourse, which were recently renovated with support from the Dmart Foundation.

“The visit underscores Central Railway’s commitment to improving infrastructure and facilities at CSMT, striving to ensure operational efficiency and a better environment for both staff and passengers” said an official of CR.

New Delhi, July 26: The Parliament’s Monsoon Session has seen its share of confrontations between the members of the ruling government and the Opposition. Even Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla has not been immune to getting into an argument or chiding a member for inappropriate behaviour. A similar incident was witnessed in the lower house on Thursday when speaker Birla scolded a member of the ruling government in the house and a minister for putting “hands in pocket”.

A video that has now gone viral shows Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla telling the minister, “Mantriji haath jeb se bahar (Minister, hands out of the pocket please)”. After this, Birla requested all the members not to put their hands in pocket while being inside the house.

He also went on to instruct that if a member is speaking, the member sitting in front should not get up and in fact try to sit somewhere back so that the member speaking is not obstructed.

The video also caught the voice of a person trying to clarify after Birla’s remarks. However, the video did not show which minister was scolded by the Lok Sabha Speaker.

This is the second time in two days when the usually unflappable Lok Sabha speaker was seen trying to correct an MP inside the house. On June 24, the exchange between Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla and TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee had gone viral.

The video shows Om Birla asking TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee to not talk about past events while speaking on the budget and focus only on the current budget in his speech. Abhishek Banerjee retorted saying, “Then why do you have no problem when someone speaks on Nehru ji and talks about 60 years old things.” Banerjee then went on to say that if he speaks on demonetisation (which took place in 2016), then the speaker has problem.

The Union Budget and the first one of Modi 3.0 was presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on July 23. The Opposition criticised the budget calling it an exercise by the government to ensure that it keeps its alliance partners happy and alleged that the budget favoured several states and deliberately left out the other regions.