After being wrongly deported and labelled as Bangladeshis, migrant workers in West Bengal's Murshidabad are heading to the polls to reclaim their Indian identity and fight for their right to belong.
A meeting of the Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Wednesday witnessed a verbal slugfest between its chairman Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and MPs from the ruling National Democratic Alliance as the Congress leader sought to raise the issue of COVID-19 vaccination drive for discussion in the panel, sources said.
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Wednesday alleged that the words 'secular' and 'socialist' were missing from the Preamble in the copies of the Constitution given to lawmakers on the opening day of the new Parliament building.
The party's prime mover in West Bengal and the state Pradesh Congress president was stunned by Trinamool Congress's star candidate and cricketer-turned-politician Yusuf Pathan who comprehensively defeated Chowdhury by a margin of over 85,000 votes.
Chowdhury, the leader of the Congress party in the Lok Sabha, claimed that his account was hacked as he was delivering a speech at a party office in West Bengal's Murshidabad district when the social media post was made.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday took a swipe at Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and wondered whether he was sidelined in the debate on the no-confidence motion due to a phone call from Kolkata.
Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned for the day on Friday amid protests by opposition and Bharatiya Janata Party members over Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury's remark on President Droupadi Murmu.
A total of 78 Muslims were in the fray in the Lok Sabha elections this year, a significant drop from the last polls when 115 Muslim candidates were fielded by various parties.
The Congress leader also lamented the exclusion of current Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge from the committee
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury accused the ruling dispensation of resorting to diversionary tactics.
Banerjee highlighted that despite repeated reminders over the last seven months, the Congress remained inactive in sealing the seat-sharing agreement.
Chowdhury, a Lok Sabha member, had moved the court against the February 1 order dismissing his plea against the eviction, following which the authorities concerned had disconnected water and power supply to his ministerial bungalow at 14, New Moti Bagh.
Chowdhury also tendered a written apology to Murmu on Friday for his "rashtrapatni" remark.
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury's 'rashtrapatni' remark snowballed into a major political row on Thursday with the Bharatiya Janata Party accusing the opposition party of insulting President Droupadi Murmu and demanding that Congress chief Sonia Gandhi should apologise to the nation.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was the Trojan horse of the Bharatiya Janata Party and should be kept out of all efforts to cobble up an opposition platform ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury alleged on Wednesday.
Chowdhury said he has directed Congress workers to extend all cooperation to the CPI-M in fighting the July 8 polls.
The Congress on Friday said it will take a decision at an 'appropriate time' whether its senior leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Sonia Gandhi will attend the consecration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya on January 22.
The apex court rejected the plea of Chowdhury when his counsel mentioned the matter for urgent hearing and said that it is not going to list it and rather dismissed it at the threshold.
A controversy erupted in West Bengal after a history question paper at the state-run Vidyasagar University described Indian revolutionaries as 'terrorists,' triggering strong political reactions and forcing the institute to issue a public apology, calling it a 'printing mistake.'
Confusion prevailing in the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) showed little signs of let up on Saturday, with just two days to go before the filing of nomination papers for the second and final phase of assembly elections comes to a close.
A vacancy will arise in the three-member poll panel when Election Commissioner Anup Chandra Pandey demits office on February 14.
Amid criticism over his absence from violence-hit Murshidabad in West Bengal, TMC leaders defended Baharampur MP Yusuf Pathan, saying he is "busy with the IPL." TMC sources expressed unhappiness with Pathan for not visiting the district during last week's communal clashes. Three people were killed in the clashes, which erupted during protests against recent amendments to the Waqf Act. The BJP seized the opportunity to criticize the ruling party, with Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar saying, "Bengal is burning under the indulgence of TMC leaders. But TMC MP Yusuf Pathan is busy sipping tea as Hindus get slaughtered. This is the true face of the TMC."
While 30 of them were suspended for the remainder of the Winter Session, three were suspended pending the report of the Privileges Committee.
The issue of National Register of Citizens in Assam is likely to rock both houses of Parliament on Wednesday too.
Discussion on the Union Budget 2019-20 to be held in both houses on Tuesday.
The speculation on whether Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief Sonia Gandhi will attend the Ram temple consecration ceremony continued with the party on Thursday saying that their decision would be conveyed at the 'right time'.
The West Bengal assembly elections are due by March-April next year.
Fissures appear to have emerged in the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) as its two key allies, the Congress and the Trinamool Congress, on Thursday clashed over seat sharing for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal.
Chowdhury termed Banerjee as an "opportunist politician" who altered her stance after realising the changing political landscape.
Newly floated Indian Secular Front had initially demanded 15 seats from the Congress, but the party had agreed to give only five to it.
The panel may recommend amending at last five articles of the Constitution to enable holding of simultaneous polls in the country.
The Congress on Monday attacked the government over the passage of the farm laws repeal bill in the Lok Sabha without a discussion, charging that all parliamentary norms have been 'thrown to the wind'.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist said that it will field a candidate as those opposed to the TMC and BJP needed an alternative.
Soon after the suspension of 33 opposition Lok Sabha MPs, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said all democratic norms have been thrown into the dustbin by this "autocratic" government and it has shown zero accountability towards Parliament.
Watched by Union Minister Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Congress workers on Thursday went on a rampage vandalising Murshidabad district magistrate's office when the officer declined to accept their memorandum on the alleged custodial death of a party worker.
Congress has sent out a clear signal of taking the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal head on by making three leaders from the state as Union ministers, two of them bitter critics of Mamata Banerjee.
Congress MPs staged a protest in front of the Gandhi statue in Parliament complex demanding an apology from the government for Irani's confrontation with Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday.
Pandey's retirement comes days before the Election Commission is to announce the schedule for the Lok Sabha polls.
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Tuesday sought to give credit to his party for the women's reservation bill but Home Minister Amit Shah refuted his claim, saying that the legislation brought by the Manmohan Singh government had lapsed following the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha.
Sitharaman added that no Union finance minister can play with the Finance Commission's recommendations.
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