Prominent Muslim leader Maulana Mehmood Madani on Tuesday kicked up a controversy by asking "so-called" secular parties not to invoke Narendra Modi bogey to create fear among Muslim voters and woo them in a "negative manner".
Political parties on Friday reacted cautiously to a Supreme Court verdict holding that citizens have the right to reject candidates contesting polls, while the Communist Party of India - Marxist said that the judgment has led to an "abnormal situation" that needs to be corrected.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday voiced hope that the monsoon session of Parliament will be fruitful and that promises made by "some political parties" during the last session to allow work on priority will be kept.
'The days when less government, more governance were spoken of are well and truly behind us.' 'More government, it is now believed, means more governance,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
The new Ministers of State sworn in by President Ram Nath Kovind at a ceremony in the Rashtrapati Bhavan include Virendra Kumar, Anant Kumar Hegde and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, former IAS officers Alphons Kannanthanam and R K Singh, former diplomat Hardeep Puri and ex-Mumbai police chief Satyapal Singh. Two other new faces are Ashwini Kumar Choubey, a member of the Lok Sabha from Bihar, and Shiv Pratap Shukla from Uttar Pradesh.
BJP MP Satish Gautam demanded the expulsion of Uttar Pradesh Labour Minister Swami Prasad Maurya from the party for calling Jinnah a 'mahapurush'
Complaints to NCM fall down sharply...4,000 Indian women deserted by NRI husbands since 2016...79 districts in India still don't have blood banks...
Congress members also vociferously pressed for a discussion on the Comptroller and Auditor General report.
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu refuted the charge of playing water politics, saying a steam-cleaned, 10-wagon train was on way to fill water at Jhansi before going to the drought-hit areas.
Congress members trooped into the Well of the House, raising slogans against the government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi after Leader of the House and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said no discussion other than on proclamation of President's Rule in Uttarakhand can take place.
Opposition members trooped into the Well of the House calling the government a "cheat".
Congress members alleged breach of propriety and constitutional norms in the consultations Goa Governor Mridula Sinha held with Jaitley.
The Opposition, which had been demanding that the bill be referred to a 'joint select committee', staged a walkout when its demand was rejected by the government.
Union Minister Mahesh Sharma said it is the "dream" of the people of the country that Ram Mandir is built as early as possible.
Pushing for better government-party coordination, the Bharatiya Janata Party has decided that its ministers will visit party offices once a month to meet party workers and hear their grievances.
The government on Monday categorically ruled out resignation of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley over allegations of corruption in Delhi cricket body DDCA which he headed till 2013, as Congress member disrupted proceedings of Rajya Sabha.
The Congress on Monday accused the ruling National Democratic Alliance of making a "fundamental departure" in New Delhi's position on Indo-Pak ties and of 'disrespecting' Parliament, as the government assured that External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will make a statement on the issue later this week.
Meanwhile, the Archbishops secretary, Father Robinson Rodrigues said that such prayer campaigns took place before every general election.
Congress Lok Sabha candidate Imran Masood was arrested on Saturday on charges of hate speech in which he threatened to "chop" Narendra Modi "into pieces", remarks that led to a first information being filed against him by the police besides sparking an outrage.
Pakistani ghazal singer Ghulam Ali's concert in the city on Friday was on Wednesday cancelled after Shiv Sena threatened to disrupt it.
Porbandar, the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi, and nearly 170 towns in Gujarat were declared Open Defection Free on the birth anniversary of the 'Father of the Nation'.
The BSP chief who raised the issue of anti-Dalit violence in Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh walked out of the Upper House, prompting protests and an adjournment.
The Opposition parties also demanded stopping the use of pellet guns on protesters, even as one member demanded withdrawal of AFPSA from the Kashmir Valley and withdrawal of the dominating presence of army from civilian areas.
The Question hour in the Lok Sabha was also washed out for the second consecutive day as an aggressive opposition stalled the proceedings over the same controversy.
Two Muslim women were slapped, kicked and abused by a mob in Madhya Pradesh allegedly over the possession of beef.
In a case smacking of religious discrimination, a young MBA graduate was denied employment in a diamond export company in Mumbai for being a Muslim, prompting the police to register a case after the issue drew widespread condemnation.
With the Congress party baying for his blood, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday broke his silence on the CAG report on irregularities in loan extended to his family-linked Purti Group.
The remarks reflect the "arrogance" of the Congress, he said addressing a poll rally on the last day of campaigning for the sixth phase in Haryana's Rohtak.
Full list of the rejigged Union Council of Ministers
After an RSS affiliate withdrew the invitation to Pakistani High Commissioner in New Delhi for an iftar, senior Sangh leader Indresh Kumar on Saturday told Pakistan to worry about calls for freedom emerging within that country and stop interfering in Kashmir.
While asserting that the growth of coronavirus cases in the country has been more or less linear and not exponential, it also said testing has been ramped up consistently.
Select committees on Mines and Minerals Amendment Bill and Coal Mines Bill recommended their approval without any change
The party leadership also thanked the people of Assam and credited the victory there and increased vote share in other states to party workers, state leaders and PM Narendra Modi.
Here are some reactions by political leaders to the five-state election verdict.
Rajya Sabha failed to transact any business for the second straight day on Tuesday as opposition members persisted with their demand for a reply from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue of conversions and created ruckus on government's move to hold events in schools on Christmas holiday.
The Opposition members on Monday strongly raised the issue of religious conversions, and a controversial statement made by Bharatiya Janata Party MP Yogi Adityanath on the Ayodhya issue and a report that government schools have been asked to observe Good Governance Day on Christmas Day, in the Rajya Sabha.
While the Rajya Sabha had exactly six years ago passed the Women's Reservation Bill, the legislation has since been pending in Lok Sabha.
Members of the BSP forced two adjournments of the Rajya Sabha till noon, creating uproar over the suicide of Dalit student, Rohith Vemula.
As many as 20 new faces are expected to be inducted into the Union Council of Ministers on Sunday in the first revamp exercise which is likely to bring in BJP leaders Manohar Parrikar, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Rajiv Pratap Rudy and Bandaru Datttatreya while elevating a few.
The Railway Budget will be presented on February 25 while the Union Budget will be presented on February 29.
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