The combined vote share of the Left Front was also reduced to nearly 24 per cent from 41 per cent in 2011.
Rejecting the opposition's charge that the bill will weaken the act, the government said it was fully committed to transparency and autonomy of the institution.
Hijacking of an aircraft will now entail capital punishment in the event of death of "any person" as Parliament on Monday passed a bill to provide widen the ambit of the law in dealing with this crime.
"The fact is that after 106 days of pre-trial incarceration there is not a single charge framed against me as I speak now," said Chidambaram, who is expected to attend the Rajya Sabha proceedings on Thursday.
The Monsoon Session of the Lok Sabha was adjourned sine die on Friday after 19 sittings that saw the passage of 14 legislation while Rajya Sabha came to an end after passing nine bills.
The necessary formalities were being completed in Jammu as well as in the national capital before the probe agency, which has been credited with breaking the nexus between stone-pelters and separatists in Jammu and Kashmir, takes over the case, officials said.
The crisis staring at the 13-month old government after over a dozen MLAs of the ruling combine quit on Saturday deepened with two Ministers and Independent MLAs -- H Nagesh and R Shankar -- resigning from the ministry and withdrawing their support to the coalition.
To Indian Railways, safety is not necessarily a systemic issue but something it attends to only on a case-by-case basis. If accidents were not to happen, the thought of safety would not arise, says Mahesh Vijapurkar
At least 22 people, most of them pilgrims, were crushed to death under the wheels of Saharsa-Patna Rajyarani Express at Bhamara Railway Station in Bihar on Monday morning.
'Why does Mr Modi only attack Nehru from the Dynasty?' 'At one level, it is pure politics,' notes Shekhar Gupta.
The government clarified in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday that it stood for equal respect for all faiths and that the PM did in fact wish Muslims on Eid.
Surjewala made the case for state-specific alliances while arguing for a larger coalition with like-minded parties in 'national interest'.
The Centre, he said, will soon make a 'big' announcement on Jammu and Kashmir.
Heated exchanges were witnessed in Lok Sabha on Tuesday over the rising number of communal incidents.
'It can be said without hesitation that Rahul, Priyanka and Sonia Gandhi enjoy perfect relations of mother-daughter-son all together in the family.' 'But their worldview is different and their style of functioning is different and their favourites in the party are different people.'
'It disappoints and saddens me no end that Mahua has allowed herself to be carried away by the Goebbelsian onslaught mounted on the BJP and Narendra Modi by certain vested interests which find themselves exposed and thrown out of the gravy train,' says B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant.
"Any fight with the Congress will remain in the state. At the national level, we will fight together, this I am saying from the heart..." she said.
Three bills were introduced in Lok Sabha on Tuesday amid uproar with members from Left parties trooping into the Well to protest against rising prices of onion while other members raised the Telangana issue.
Successors of those who migrated to Pakistan and China during Partition will have no claim over the properties left behind in India, with Parliament on Tuesday passing a bill to amend a 49-year-old law.
The issue of alleged bugging at Union Minister Nitin Gadkari's residence rocked Parliament on Wednesday with Congress alleging that the methods used in Gujarat to keep tabs on ministers and MPs were being employed at the Centre, a charge stoutly rejected by Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
As the dust finally settles on the outcome of the Lok Sabha elections 2019 and Bharatiya Janata Party along with its NDA allies emerges as the clear winner, here is a list of who won in each of the 7 phases of elections.
'Usually, the Left backed the Congress and other 'secular' parties on the justification of keeping the BJP out. In Bengal, the alliance targets a truly secular rival,' says Shekhar Gupta.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley appealed to parties to rise above partisan considerations to support it.
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