The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) was anticipated to provide its final report on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill to the Lok Sabha on the third day of the Parliament's budget session. Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, also responded on Friday to the Motion of Thanks to the President's Address, which was given last week.

On Monday, the Lok Sabha saw loud protests from opposition parties, who called for a discussion on the recent stampede at the Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj and asked for a list of the deceased. The House convened for the first time after the President's address and the presentation of the 2025-26 budget. Opposition MPs, led by Congress, stood up to demand a discussion on the tragedy at Maha Kumbh. The protestors quickly moved to the well of the House, shouting slogans and creating a commotion.

Congress leaders, including Deputy Leader Gaurav Gogoi and General Secretary K.C. Venugopal, also called for suspending the Question Hour to focus on the stampede issue. In addition, they requested a complete list of those who had died in the incident. Speaker Om Birla responded, saying that the members could raise these issues during the debate on the motion of thanks to the President. “The Honourable President had referred to the tragedy at Maha Kumbh. You can raise your issues during the debate,” he said. 

Speaking in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition, accused  EAM Jaishankar of travelling to the United States to arrange an invitation for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend Donald Trump's inauguration as the 47th President. In response, Jaishankar said in a post on social media platform X, “Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi deliberately spoke a falsehood about my visit to the US in December 2024. I went to meet the Secretary of State and NSA of the Biden Administration. Also to chair a gathering of our Consuls General. During my stay, the incoming NSA-designate met with me”. Jaishankar clarified that there was no discussion about an invitation for PM Modi, stating that it's well-known the Prime Minister doesn't attend such events. He also mentioned that India is usually represented by Special Envoys. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar rejected his claim.

“When we talk to the United States, we would not send our foreign minister to invite our Prime Minister to his coronation. Because if we had a production system and if we were working on these technologies, the American President would come here and invite the Prime Minister," Rahul Gandhi said, while claiming that Indian industries are lagging behind China in terms of data.

Rahul Gandhi's statements sparked heated debate in the Lok Sabha.Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju objected to Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi's comments on PM Modi. Kiren Rijiju said, “Leader of Opposition cannot make such a serious unsubstantial statement. This is related to the relation between two countries and he is making an unverified statement about the invitation of the Prime Minister of our country….”. 

Rahul Gandhi said, “There are basically four technologies driving change in mobility — electric motors, batteries, optics and on top of that, application of AI. People talk about AI but AI on its own is meaningless because it operates on data. If we look at data today, every single data that comes out of the production system is owned by China.” He added, “We have as a country failed in organising production and handed it over to the Chinese.”

He said, “We have done caste survey in Telangana. We found almost 90% of the State comprises of Dalits, tribals, backward, minorities.” “None of the largest corporates in this country are owned by OBCs, Dalits or tribals,” he added. 

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi said in Lok Sabha, “Any country basically organises two things, you can organise consumption and then you can organise production. The modern way of saying organising consumption is services. The modern way of saying, organising production is manufacturing, but there is more to production than simply manufacturing. We have as a country failed in organising production. We have excellent companies that try to organise production…essentially what we have done is we have handed over the organisation of production to the Chinese. This mobile phone, even though we are saying we make this mobile phone in India, that is not a fact. This phone is not made in India. This phone is assembled in India. All the components of this phone are made in China…we are paying a tax to China.”

Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi said, “The Prime Minister proposed ‘Make in India’, a good initiative. We saw the statues, functions and the so-called investors, and the result is right in front of me today.” “Manufacturing fell from 15.3 per cent of GDP in 2014 to 12.6 per cent of GDP today i.e. the lowest share of manufacturing in 60 years,” he added. 

Rahul Gandhi said, “It was a moment of pride for our Congress party to see PM Modi bow in front of the Constitution after winning the Lok Sabha election.” He also brought up the claim made by RSS chairman Mohan Bhagwant that India did not get independence in 1947. 

Rahul Gandhi said in Lok Sabha, “People talk about AI, but it’s important to understand that AI on its own is absolutely meaningless because AI operates on top of data. Without data, AI means nothing. And if we look at data today, there is one thing which is very clear. Every single piece of data that comes out of the production system in the world. The data that was used to make this phone, the data that is used to make electric cars. The data that is used to make basically all electronics on the planet today is owned by China.”

Rahul Gandhi said in Lok Sabha, “The Prime Minister had denied that Chinese forces are inside our country but our armed forces still continue to hold talks with the Chinese forces over their entry in our country. This is not a farce but a fact.”

Rahul Gandhi said in Lok Sabha on Monday, “The future of this country will be decided by the youth of this country. Anything I say has to be addressed to them, focused on them.” The Leader of the Opposition added, “The first thing in front of us. This is something PM and everyone in this room will accept. Even though we have grown, we have grown fast. We are growing slightly slower now. A universal problem we have not been able to tackle is unemployment. Neither the UPA govt nor today’s NDA govt has given a clear cut answer to youth on employment.”

Rahul Gandhi said during Motion of Thanks debate, “It was the same laundry list — 50-100 things govt has done. While listening I was thinking I’m being critical about what is being said. And I am saying that this is not the type of President’s address that should be delivered. Well, the question that came to mind that what type of address INDI alliance govt deliver. How would be different? Today I would like to lay out some dimensions what an alternate address look like.” "I struggled through the President's address because it is the same thing that I have heard Presidents speak over the years," Rahul Gandhi stated in response to the Motion of Thanks to the President's talk.

Union Minister Kiren Rijiju lambasted Rahul Gandhi during the Motion of Thanks to the President's address. 

During the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address, BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad criticised Congress MP Sonia Gandhi for her comment referring to President Droupadi Murmu as a "poor thing."

In addition, on Maha Kumbh stampede, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi said, “Today the opposition demanded only one thing, that the government answer on the atrocities committed with the tourists and death of people at Maha Kumbh… The government is trying to hide the answers… The topic of Maha Kumbh is very serious and should be subjected to investigation and lapses by the Uttar Pradesh government should be revealed… We gave motion in urgent, but the speaker negated it…”

On the other hand, Samajwadi MP Jaya Bachchan said on Question Hour, “Question hour is going on in Rajya Sabha and questions were raised on ‘Jal Shakti’. I have already spoken on clean water… Right now Kumbh has the most contaminated water. Dead bodies were disposed into the river which contaminated the water in Prayagraj and the same water is being supplied to common people… They (the government) are not giving any answers to these real issues.” 

Regarding the Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024 report from the JPC, Samajwadi Party MP Virendra Singh stated, “By suspending some members of the Parliamentary Committee, BJP has passed this bill in its own way. I predict that the government will bring this Waqf Board Bill to the Parliament after amending it again…” BJP MP Nishikant Dubey said, “I want to raise 10 questions but the opposition is not allowing me to do that. I will expose the relationship between the Gandhi family and George Soros…A photo of George Soros’s son with the CEO of Bangladesh, Muhammad Yunus has been published and his son stayed in Bangladesh for 4 days. He has made Bangladesh the centre for sending infiltrators to India and dividing our country, I am going to expose that…”

BJP MP Ramvir Bidhuri stated that the public transport system in Delhi has fallen apart, with fewer buses on the roads. He criticised the AAP government for failing to improve the public transport over the past ten years. He also mentioned that the only reason the system is still running is due to new reforms introduced by the central government. BJP MP Ramvir Singh Bidhuri criticised the Aam Aadmi Party in the Lok Sabha regarding the upcoming Delhi elections in 2025. He accused the Delhi government of blocking the Centre's efforts to implement the PM Awas Yojana in the city. He also stated that the people of Delhi have been denied basic healthcare and called the AAP government corrupt. The Question Hour in Lok Sabha has ended as the disturbance in Parliament subsided. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to respond to the Motion of Thanks in Lok Sabha tomorrow at 5 pm.