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A day after Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s “Two India” remark lead to an outrage in the parliament, Gandhi on Thursday slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) over their “rule of only one ideology in the country”.

Gandhi, while addressing a programme in Raipur, said, “This country is like a bouquet of different ideologies ...The ideology, history and culture in one state is different from the other. But if we say that there will be only one ideology in the whole country then it will be wrong. This will harm the country,” the Wayanad MP said.

“The BJP and RSS want that only their ideology should rule over all the states, languages and history in the country which can never happen,” said Gandhi, while accusing the BJP of spreading hatred in the country in the name of religion. “They are creating fights between different states and different religions. The powers outside India look at us and say that India is getting weak,” he said.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday accused the government of creating "separate Indias" of the rich and the poor, warning that the widening disparity fuelled by joblessness is a major threat to the country.

Speaking first from the opposition side in the Lok Sabha during the debate on the Motion of Thanks on the President's address, Rahul accused the government of strategic blunder that has brought about a compact between China and Pakistan, even as India remains "isolated" in the neighbourhood. He said China and Pakistan are "planning" and India should prepare to defend itself, adding that the government "will be responsible for anything that happens".

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday urged all MPs to make the Budget session of Parliament fruitful by holding discussions with an "open mind" and making sure that the ongoing assembly elections do not affect the session, which is very important as it draws a blueprint for the entire year.

Addressing the media just before the start of the session, PM Modi said that it is true that because of frequent elections, sessions and discussions get affected but elections have their own place and will keep happening, and hoped that there are discussions that are free, thoughtful, full of human sensitivities, and with good intent.

The annual Union Budget is round the corner and this year the Budget Session of the Parliament will begin on Monday, January 31, 2022. The budget session will commence with President Ram Nath Kovind addressing both the houses.

The session will be held in two parts – the first part of the session would conclude on February 11, 2022. After a month-long recess, part two of the session would begin on March 14, 2022, and conclude on April 8, 2022.

After President Kovind's address to both the houses on Monday, January 31, 2022, the Economic Survey 2021-22 is going to be tabled.

Around 75% of the Covid positive samples, that underwent genome sequencing in January, were found to be infected with Omicron variant of SARS-CoV2, National Centre of Disease Control (NCDC) director Sujeet Singh said. He added that Delta also continues to have a significant presence in some states like Odisha, West Bengal and Maharashtra.

“It is not true that we are seeing only the Omicron variant. Delta is still present in the country. Clinical severity is also due to Delta. Cases coming to hospitals should not be considered as Omicron and therefore of low severity,” Singh said.