This is the first time that the saffron party has become the number one formation in the Upper House after the Narendra Modi government came to power in May 2014.
Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party has emerged as the third largest party in the Rajya Sabha, relegating the CPI(M) to fourth position in yet another bad news for Marxists ahead of the Assembly polls in West Bengal and Kerala.
Announcing the party decision, Bihar JD-U president Vashishtha Narayan said, ""It was a necessary step because being leader if a person indulges in anti-party activities it has to be condemned unanimously."
Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) parties will make all-out efforts to thwart the government's move to pass the bill even as the numbers are stacked in favour of the NDA with BJD and YSRCP pledging their support to the government on the bill.
Opposition parties on Thursday continued their attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over inauguration of the new Parliament building and accused him of being 'megalomaniac' and the government of being 'arrogant'.
The over half-an-hour meeting between the opposition parties and the government, however, remained inconclusive.
"Vishguru's latest salvo - D(h)arna Mana Hai!," Jairam Ramesh said.
The results of the assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh are also likely to play out during the start of the session.
While a tweet from a close aide of the Gandhi's and the Chief Whip of the party in Rajya Sabha, Jairam Ramesh took a dig on Azad for accepting the award, Congress stalwarts from the G-23 group have congratulated him for the 'well-deserved' award.
Upset over alleged 'personal' remarks made against her, Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan on Monday lashed out at the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Rajya Sabha with a 'curse' that it will face bad days soon.
The joint Opposition including the Congress, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the Trinamool Congress, the Left, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi and the Aam Aadmi Party did not join the Question Hour of the session when the House reassembled after its first adjournment till noon.
CPI-M general secretary Sitaram Yechury and CPI general secretary D Raja said the top leadership will not attend the meeting called by the TMC chief.
The government told an all-party meeting Monday that it does not intend to bring any legislative business in Rajya Sabha during the first part of the Budget Session which is till February 11, sources said.
The joint committee of Parliament examining the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 has adopted its report on the bill with several opposition MPs, including those from the Congress, Ttrinamool Congress and Biju Janata Dal, submitting their dissent notes.
In a embarrassment to the government, Opposition parties in Rajya Sabha on Thursday forced deferment of a bill that aimed at allowing Border Security Force to operate at places other than border areas.
Sources said the Congress Parliamentary Party authorised Gandhi to pick the party's leader in Lok Sabha.
The members, whose terms are ending, include union ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad, Dharmendra Pradhan, J P Nadda, Thaawarchand Gehlot and Ramdas Athawale.
Replying to the general discussion on Budget in Lok Sabha, she said the former Congress chief was creating fake narratives but does not have patience to listen to replies on allegations levelled against the government.
Deputy leader of the Bhartiya Janata Party in Rajya Sabha, S S Ahluwalia made it clear during his interaction with mediapersons on Saturday that his party would settle for nothing less than a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe in the 2G telecom scam.
Veteran Socialist leader and Samajwadi Party Rajya Sabha member Janeshwar Mishra died of a heart attack on Friday in Allahabad.Mishra, 77, who is survived by two daughters, was ill for a long time and died in a hospital, where he was admitted following complaints of chest pain on Thursday night.Fondly called 'Chotey Lohia' for his life-long association with the Samajwadi movement, Mishra was the leader of the Samajwadi Party in Rajya Sabha.
The monsoon session of Parliament is likely to begin in the third week of July and end by mid August.
Several opposition members, including from the Dravida Munnetra Kazagham and the Communist Party of India-Marxist, also pointed out that the government took almost two months to impose the lockdown after the first case came to light in January, and claimed the delay had proved costly.
A faux pas by Treasury benches during the voting on the ordinance on food security held up proceedings of Rajya Sabha for some time.
Trinamool Congress on Saturday removed Mukul Roy, a former confidante of Mamata Banerjee, from the key post of party general secretary.
The Centre assures to restore demolished Ambedkar Bhavan at Dadar in Mumbai.
Trinmool Congress MP Srinjoy Bose quit his party as well as his Rajya Sabha seat on Thursday.
The vice president met Leader of the party in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, P Chidambaram and Deputy Leader of the party in Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma, among others and discussed various points regarding the key tax reform legislation.
Congress said it will comply with all formalities to get the status of the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha even as the party has been kept on tenterhooks on the issue ahead of Budget Session beginning on Monday.
President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday asked ruling and opposition parties to put their heads together and find out a workable solution, apparently to avoid frequent issuing of ordinances.
He said it will be 'foolhardy' to diminish institutions for short-term political gains.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said measures should be taken to strengthen the Constitution and ensure that democracy is not subverted again.
From France to Canada, from Japan to South Korea, all of Modi's barbs came in front of an NRI audience. Over the last one year, with 19 foreign visits, Modi has tried to use diplomacy as a PR event and foreign policy as a means to shore up his image back at home, says Shehzad Poonawalla.
The Rajya Sabha saw a heated debate on Wednesday after Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that the government that a restraining order has been order against the broadcast of BBC documentary 'India's Daughter' on the December 2012 Delhi gang rape.
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