Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, who has just resigned, on Monday remained non-committal on his prospects of becoming finance minister while describing reports on this as "speculation".
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BJP patriarch Vajpayee and Lok Sabha Speaker Chatterjee, the senior-most and the only two ten-term MPs in the 14th Lok Sabha, will not be contesting the general elections this time for different reasons.
"Jairam Ramesh may not be the only minister to resign from the government and join the party for election work. You will know in the next one or two days", Sonia Gandhi said, minutes after attending the valedictory function of the 14th Lok Sabha where the strains of Vande Mataram brought the curtains down on five eventful years of the Congress heading the United Progressive Alliance coalition government.
The Companies Bill, 2008, which lapsed with the dissolution of the 14th Lok Sabha, was reintroduced by the corporate affairs minister Salman Khurshid in the Lower House amid din. Besides other things, the new Bill will be shorter and will try to harmonise the company law framework with sectoral regulations.
According to sources, the GoM has accepted the rural development ministry's demand to stick to the 70:30 formula for land acquisition for industry, after rejecting suggestions of a parliamentary panel, Left parties and some state governments. This means that a state can acquire only up to 30 per cent of the total land required for a project with the remaining being acquired by the private party concerned.
The prime minister's staff vacated his office in Parliament House on Thursday, the opening day of the current Parliament session, and the Special Protection Group which is responsible for his security sealed the rooms.
PM taken out of ICU, likely to attend the last day of the Parliament session.
Party sources said apart from the Railway and General Budget, the government wanted to initiate some key legislation during the session to send a political message to voters. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal has also planned to hold a meeting of the secretaries of different ministries to know each ministry's priority agenda. "We have to set the government's agenda accordingly," Bansal said.
At this rate, it would not before the country from a constituted republic of the people of India would metamorphose into a dynastic democracy where some 600 dynastic families would rule the roost.
When Advani shook hands, the prime minister did not come out his seat. While Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav hugged Advani for a second, Lalu Prasad too came out of his seat to greet Advani, but did not hug him.
A near-decisive victory for the United Progessive Alliance (UPA) in the 15th Lok Sabha may have been unexpected for everyone, but not so the viewer turnout for television channels on May 16, the day the results were declared.
'Non-separation of religion from politics is India's most daunting challenge'
Failing to get Election Commission's nod for campaigning and undertaking preparatory activities for launch of the scheme on April 1, the government on Thursday announced its decision to defer extension of the scheme to other citizens. The Centre has already implemented the new pension system for its employees who joined on or after January 1, 2004.
Speaker Meira Kumar said in her valedictory address that the Lok Sabha lost over 23 hours and 34 minutes due to interruptions and forced adjournments, but it sat late for 30 hours and 52 minutes to transact important financial and other business.
The Congress party is displaying a studied confidence that people will appreciate its rule of the past five years. It is projecting a more coherent image than its nearest rival the Bhartiya Janata Party but this could very well be a contrived posturing by way of creating an air of confidence limited to New Delhi.
Outgoing Speaker Somnath Chatterjee expressed concern about the manner in which money was flaunted by some MPs during the Trust Vote on July 23rd last year to save the government.
Samajwadi Party Member of Parliament Jaya Prada is confident about winning the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls from her constituency Rampur in Uttar Pradesh.In the 2004 LS polls, she had won by over 78,000 votes, defeating candidates from the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party.The former actress claimed that she had attended the Parliament regularly during the last five years.
Parliament was adjourned for the day on Monday after paying tributes to Union Minister Sis Ram Ola, who died on Sunday after prolonged illness.
A brief session of the Parliament is likely to begin from February 16 and continue till February 24.
The first session of 15th Lok Sabha will be convened from June 1 to June 9.
R Rajagopalan reveals the BJP's master plan to get Modi re-elected.
The recent surgical strikes in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir are expected to grab limelight during the month-long session. Some parties have alleged that the government is trying to politicise it.
Despite tall promises made by political parties, presence of women in the Lok Sabha has remained a dismal 3.5 per cent to 9.02 per cent of its total strength since it came into being.
In a news series, voters voice their aspirations and concerns ahead of the general elections.
Leader of the Opposition L K Advani today demanded that the Constitution be amended to make it mandatory for the Prime Minister to be a member of the Lok Sabha.
The Election Commission has drawn up a tentative plan to announce the elections on March 10, the date from which the model code of conduct for political parties and the government comes into force. The Election Commission's plan is to complete the elections and constitute the new Lok Sabha latest by June 4. The last round of polling will be over by the end of May.
Whether his nomination was rightly or wrongly rejected by the Election Commission depends on his eligibility, the court said.
Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh on Thursday said he would like to contest next Lok Sabha election from Vidisha seat in Madhya Pradesh, currently represented by Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj.
'As of now he is fine, talking to everyone. There is nothing to worry,' Dharmendra's doctor assures.
Nationalist Congress Party's Agatha K Sangma on Monday took oath as a member of the 14th Lok Sabha, becoming the youngest Member of Parliament of the current House.The other two are Anurag Singh Thakur of Bharatiya Janata Party and Anand Paranjpe of Shiv Sena.The three other new members who took oath are A Indrakaran Reddy (Congress) of Adilabad, B Vinod Kumar (TRS) of Hanamkonda and Errabelli Dayakar Rao (Telugu Desam Party) of Warangal.
The activities of the two secretariats over the years have increased many folds which involve manpower planning, judicious and prudent financial management, transfer, postings of senior officials, meeting the grievances of the officials and staff, reveals Rup Narayan Das.
The Code on Wages Bill, 2019 seeks to amend and consolidate the laws relating to wages, bonus and matters connected therewith. The Bill will subsume four labour laws -- Minimum Wages Act, Payment of Wages Act, Payment of Bonus Act and Equal Remuneration Act. About 50 crore labourers will benefit.
With elections to the 15th Lok Sabha just weeks away, rediff.com's reporters speak to voters across the country to find out what's on their mind.
The new Lok Sabha will have 300 MPs who have been elected for the first time to the Lower House.
'At their behest, the party is being guided now here, now there. Ethics and principles have been given a \n\ncomplete go-by,' says Laxman Singh, the Congress MP who joined the BJP.
Sitaram Yechury said he believed there existed the need to set up a 'third alternative' to the Congress and the BJP.
A total of 13 motions were moved in support of Birla.
Since Parliament is still in session, the government refrained from making an official statement but the ministers said there were ample 'precedents by the Congress governments in the past' of Bills being pushed through the ordinance route.
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