Voting was underway on Friday in 102 Lok Sabha seats spread across 21 states and Union territories in the first of the seven phases of the world's largest electoral exercise, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging voters to exercise their franchise in record numbers.
As many as 14 opposition MPs were suspended from Parliament for the remainder of the winter session for disrupting proceedings, as the Lok Sabha security breach incident snowballed into a major row on Thursday with the government asking the opposition not to "politicise" the "grave national issue" and the Congress, Trinamool Congress and others demanding a statement from Home Minister Amit Shah.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) began making submissions on Monday on its appeal before the Delhi high court challenging the acquittal of accused persons, including former telecom minister A Raja, and firms in the 2G spectrum allocation scam case in December 2017.
The BJP often forgets that in Dravidian Tamil Nadu, the voter does not mix religion, which is personal, and politics that is in the public sphere, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader and Fisheries Minister Anitha Radhakrishnan accepted the mistake on Thursday after the Tamil Nadu government was left red-faced after an advertisement for a new Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) that featured a rocket with the flag of China.
Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma said the parties shall file brief written submissions not exceeding five pages.
As uncomfortable it may be for her, what the Rajya Sabha MP should realise is that there are millions of Indians who have been spending their lifetime in the 15 ft x 10 ft configuration.
Slamming Opposition parties for disrupting parliamentary proceedings, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday said as details of the Parliament security breach incident emerge, it is getting "obvious" that the DNA of those who entered the Lok Sabha is inextricably linked to the "Congress-Communist axis".
From Instagram to X, social media platforms, in the run-up to the polls have seen bitter poster wars and even bitter meme battles for political one-upmanship.
Voters include 8.4 crore men, 8.23 crore women and 11,371 from third gender. There are as many as 35.67 lakh first time voters, besides 3.51 crore young voters in the age group of 20-29 years.
The Lok Sabha had taken up discussion on the Motion of Thanks, moved by Bharatiya Janata Party member Chandra Prakash Joshi, on Tuesday, after three days of disruptions in Parliament.
While 30 of them were suspended for the remainder of the Winter Session, three were suspended pending the report of the Privileges Committee.
"The voting percentage is likely to go upwards when reports from all polling stations are obtained as polling is scheduled till 6 pm in many constituencies. Final figures will be known on Saturday after the scrutiny of form 17A," the EC said.
According to the CPI-M, Aleida, who arrived in Chennai from Thiruvananthapuram, is likely to attend a party meeting on Tuesday and will participate in a public reception on Wednesday.
Introducing the 128th Constitution Amendment Bill, which was approved by a two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, Meghwal recounted the measures initiated by the Narendra Modi government for the empowerment of women over the last nine years.
Opposition parties Nationalist Congress Party and Samajwadi Party on Wednesday demanded reservation for OBCs in the women's reservation bill and questioned the reason for calling a special session when the bill cannot be implemented before census and delimitation.
Women politicians bring to politics and policy a sensitivity that most of their male counterparts, at least until a generation back, lacked.
Indications are that the DMK combine will win more seats than the AIADMK and BJP, but is facing a tough fight in about half a dozen from the rest, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy of the electoral contest in Tamil Nadu.
The INDIA bloc has 95 MPs in Rajya Sabha of which 45 were suspended on Monday.
'They are fighting it out, but they have deeply traumatised; they are alive and they are carrying on in life.'
Glimpses of lady MPs as the nation's lady finance minister presents the Budget for the next financial year on Wednesday, February 1, 2023.
Joshi, however, clarified that he did not support the banned practice and that his remarks were on the tradition of 'Jauhar'.
'We walked into the well of the House because we had no choice.' 'They were not listening to us. They were throttling democracy.'
There is an impression within the Tamil Nadu BJP -- although no one is airing it -- that over-exposure for Narendra Modi over the past months may work against party candidates, as they have triggered a near-continuous social media debate on his achievements and failures, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Everyone's voice must be heard. We will be talking to both Kukis and Meiteis'
The Tamil Nadu chief minister and his family were no doubt overwhelmed by his Bengal counterpart's generosity.
Chowdhury said that the visiting MPs will present their observations on Manipur in Parliament.
Stalin, in an interview to a daily, has refuted the FM's allegations, saying "everyone present in the Assembly knew it was a drama enacted by herself," referring to the late Jayalalithaa.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee called on her Tamil Nadu counterpart M K Stalin in Chennai on Wednesday and the two leaders said politics did not come up during their discussion.
What some of our leaders were up to on over the weekend.
Ahead of the visit, Congress' deputy leader in Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi called for an inquiry under a retired Supreme Court judge into the violence in Manipur.
The opposition parties are seeking the President's intervention in the matter, claiming that violence in the BJP-ruled northeastern state is continuing unabated.
Initiating the debate on the bill from the opposition's side, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi said that any delay in bringing the reservation into effect would be "gross injustice" to Indian women.
The bill seeks to reserve one-third of all seats for women in the Lok Sabha and the state legislative assemblies.
In a memorandum submitted to Manipur Governor Anusuiya Uikey, the 21 opposition MPs who signed the document demanded urgent rehabilitation and resettlement of the affected people to bring peace and harmony to the state.
Gandhi, who is usually flanked by senior party colleagues, was also greeted by both President Droupadi Murmu and Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar.
Stalin still enjoys a lot of sympathy and empathy as someone wishing well for the state, but not full-throated support as in 2019 and 2021, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The campaign will reach a high decibel level next week when BJP state chief K Annamalai is expected to take up a blitzkrieg campaign against the ruling DMK.
A girl who appeared for NEET and aspired to pursue medical education died by suicide at a village in Ariyalur District, the second such death within two days in Tamil Nadu, with the incident seeing a repeat of the main opposition AIADMK hitting out at the DMK regime, while chief minister M K Stalin on Tuesday vowed to continue the legal fight to remove the test.
Opposition leaders on Saturday stepped up pressure on Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla for stringent action against Bharatiya Janata Party's Ramesh Bidhuri over his derogatory remarks against Bahujan Samaj Party MP Danish Ali in the House.
