Rajya Sabha adjourned till 11:00 AM tomorrow.

Lok Sabha was adjourned shortly after Amit Shah concluded his speech. 

After opposition's walk-out from Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi said, "You should have seen the response of Home Minister, it was totally a defensive response, and what points we raised, he did not answer... I had said two-three things, I had asked for transparent voter list, he did not say a word, I had asked for sharing EVM architecture, he did not say a word... The CEC has been given full immunity..."

Opposition stages walk out during Home Minister Amit Shah's address.

"BJP has lost more elections than it has won, but we never questioned Election Commission. Reason for electoral loss is your leadership, not EVM or electoral rolls," Amit Shah to Congress in Lok Sabha

Union Home Minister Amit Shah's speech in the Lok Sabha during the debate on electoral reforms saw a fiery face-off between him and Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi. When the Congress MP dared the minister to hold a debate on his press conference about alleged irregularities in voter lists, the BJP leader hit back, saying no one would dictate the order in which he would say things. 

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"Post Independence, Sardar Patel was backed by 28 persons, Jawaharlal Nehru by two persons; yet Nehru became the prime minister, this was "vote chori". Second "vote chori" was by Indira Gandhi, when she granted herself immunity after court set aside her election. Dispute of third "vote chori" has just reached civil courts on how Sonia Gandhi became a voter before becoming citizen of India," Amit Shah said in Lok Sabha.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah's address in Lok Sabha on poll reforms debate turned into a face off between him and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi after the latter challenged him to a debate.

"First SIR was carried out in 1952 when Jawaharlal Nehru was Prime Minister. This is not the first time it is happening," Amit Shah said.

"Still believe Parliament cannot discuss SIR as it is in domain of Election Commission. The poll body is conducting the exercise as it is its Constitutional mandate," Amit Shah said.

"I still believe SIR cannot be discussed in parliament. But when it comes to 'Election Reforms' we are ready. We are not running away from any debate or discussion," Amit Shah said.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said that the whole aim of the debate on 150 years of Vande Mataram was to malign first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

"Rajendra Prasad wrote to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on September 28, 1937, raising concerns and worries prevalent in large sections of our political system on Vande Mataram, and requesting Patel that the Congress Working Committee (CWC) take a stand. Was it appeasement? Are you accusing Rajendra Prasad, Sardar Patel of appeasement?" Ramesh said.

"On October 28, 1937 CWC passed a resolution about Vande Mataram... Mahatma Gandhi, Subhas Chandra Bose, Vallabhbhai Patel, Jawaharlal Nehru, Maulana Azad, Acharya Kripalani, GB Pant... They were all present," Ramesh said.

The national mental health telephone helpline handled close to 30 lakh calls since its launch in October 2022, averaging nearly two calls every minute, government data furnished to Parliament showed on Wednesday.

Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai said in a written reply to Rajya Sabha that the government launched a "National Tele Mental Health Programme" on October 10, 2022, to improve access to quality mental health counselling and care services in the country.

The services of Tele MANAS helpline (1800-89-14416) are available in 20 languages based on the language opted by states, he said.

"More than 29,82,000 calls have been handled on the helpline number," Rai said.

Rajya Sabha resumes proceedings with further Discussion on 150th Anniversary of National Song "Vande Mataram".

BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad, during election reforms debate in Lok Sabha, said, "I was listening to Rahul Gandhi yesterday. Today, I also heard KC Venugopal, and they were saying that we compromise institutions... I want to ask who made a joke of the President of India? Former President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed was forced to sign the paper on the 'Emergency'. Who superseded the judge of the  Supreme Court? HR Khanna said that even during the Emergency, we will not compromise with the right of the citizens and hence, Congress didn't let him be the CJI even for a month."

Congress Leader KC Venugopal slammed the Election Commission during the Electoral Reforms debate in the Lok Sabha.

"Instead of preventing anti-national acts like 'vote chori', it is enabling it," he said.

Congress General Secretary and MP KC Venugopal launched a blistering attack on the NDA government in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday while opposing the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners, accusing the Centre of systematically destroying the independence of the ECI.

"The idea of an impartial electoral umpire has been openly crushed. The Election Commission has now collapsed under political pressure and has become partisan," Venugopal said, while the Lok Sabha continued to debate on electoral reforms, adding that the right to vote is not a mercy granted by any government but a fundamental principle of democracy.

Quoting Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Venugopal alleged that wherever elections were near, the BJP government started SIR (Special Intensive Revision). "It happened in Bihar, and now it is happening as elections are nearing in several states," he said.

Rajya Sabha has been adjourned till 2 pm.

Rajya Sabha chairman commemorates the 77th Anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the UN General Assembly in 1948.

The proceedings in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have begun.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah will speak on Election Reforms in the Lok Sabha at 5 PM today.

BJP president and Rajya Sabha leader JP Nadda is also expected to conclude the debate on 'Vande Mataram' today, setting a spirited close to the cultural and ideological discourse in the Upper House. Soon after, attention will shift to the high-stakes election reforms discussion beginning Thursday.

AAP MP Sanjay Singh has given a Rule 267 notice in Rajya Sabha, demanding a discussion on "a grave public health emergency caused by toxic air pollution in Delhi."

Electoral reforms are at the centre of a politically charged debate in the Lok Sabha today, with Union Home Minister Amit Shah expected to make a concluding speech. He is expected to highlight the government's roadmap for electoral transparency and other reforms.