Opposition alliance INDIA on Thursday boycotted a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) of the Rajya Sabha to protest Prime Minister Narendra Modi not making a statement on Manipur violence in Parliament, a senior leader said.
The Congress said the rally by the INDIA will send a "strong message" to the Lok Kalyan Marg, where the prime minister's residence is located, that the BJP-led government's "time is up".
In a rerun of the 'Reclaim the Night' campaign, hundreds of women took to the streets in Kolkata and other parts of West Bengal on Sunday night, demanding justice for the alleged rape and murder of a doctor in the state-run R G Kar Medical College and Hospital.
Moitra on Tuesday stirred a controversy with her remarks that she has every right as "an individual to imagine Goddess Kaali as a meat-eating and alcohol-accepting goddess", as every person has the right to worship god and goddess in his or her own way.
Senior leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress were stopped by police on Friday from visiting the trouble-torn Sandeshkhali, escalating the political tensions in the state as the leaders accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of fostering a 'lawless situation' and attempting to 'communalise' the issue.
India's opposition parties have sharply criticized the Union Budget, calling it inadequate to address the country's economic woes and accusing the BJP-led government of using it to woo voters in Bihar and Delhi ahead of upcoming elections. Leaders from the Congress, TMC, DMK, SP, and CPI(M) voiced their disapproval, highlighting concerns over inflation, unemployment, and the lack of substantial measures to support the agricultural sector and the poor. They also criticized the tax cuts for the middle class as insufficient and coming too late after years of high taxes and rising prices.
In a memorandum submitted to the EC, the INDIA party leaders submitted a list of recent instances of central agencies targeting Opposition parties and alleged an absence of a level playing field for the opposition.
'Shekhar Suman joining the BJP when the nation is going to the polls is like gatecrashing into a wedding just when the guests are being served their meal.'
According to the TMC, the momentum built by the INDIA bloc over three successful meetings has dwindled in the last few months due to inactivity, with the Congress preoccupied with elections in three states.
Modi was born on September 17, 1950 in a small town in Gujarat.
After meeting party leaders in the area, Majumdar went straight to Sandeshkhali police station and later started a sit-in outside it.
Other prominent candidates among the 904 in the fray are Union minister Anurag Thakur, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's nephew Abhishek Banerjee, RJD supremo Lalu Prasad's daughter Misa Bharti.
INDIA bloc leaders will protest at Jantar Mantar Friday against suspension of MPs and nationwide protests will also be held in all district headquarters against the government's "immoral and illegal" behaviour of this government, the Leader of the opposition in Rajya Sabha said.
Leaders of the West Bengal Congress unit, which has an alliance with the CPI-M-led Left Front in the state, were seen welcoming the Left leaders.
The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Centre and the Gujarat government to submit by October 16 the original records related to the remission of sentence of 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano gangrape case and murder of seven of her family members during the 2002 Gujarat riots.
Struggling to gain political traction on issues of corruption, the West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party is shifting its focus to emotive topics such as the Ram Temple in Ayodhya and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in a bid to achieve its target of securing 35 out of the 42 Lok Sabha seats from the state.
'Barricading will remain for a few more days. Situation today is better than previous days and we are keeping an eye on law and order here'
Another meeting convened by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge at his residence in New Delhi on Wednesday with the floor leaders of the INDIA constituents in Parliament will, however, go ahead according to its schedule to formulate the opposition strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday tore into United Progressive Alliance accusing it of economic mismanagement during the 2008 global financial crisis, saying the Congress put the 'first family first' and brought the economy down to 'fragile five'.
Amid some Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) constituents switching sides to the National Democratic Alliance, Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Sunday said the opposition alliance is 'strong' and the Bharatiya Janata Party is attempting a 'frantic rejig' of the political landscape as it is worried over the collective strength of the coalition.
The anti-corruption branch of the CBI asked the actor-turned-politician to appear before officials of the central agency on February 15 at its Nizam Palace office in Kolkata, the source said.
'An important dimension that shone through was the enormous pride in India, a general belief that as Indians we are starting to count globally and we are at the forefront of the world.'
Bandopadhyay joined the party along with his followers at a function at Mahajati Sadan in Kolkata.
In financial year 2020-21, the BJP declared assets worth Rs 4,990 crore, up by 21.17 per cent to Rs 6,046.81 crore in 2021-22.
Opposition leaders said India should speak for what is right and should not be afraid of its neighbour.
The complaint said the video was made with an "intention to insult and defame the Vice-President of India, his caste as well as his background of farmer and as a lawyer".
Rajnath said the opposition parties were trying to cover up their own "mistakes and weaknesses".
As the Queen star found herself in the middle of a row, with the BJP distancing itself and the Congress attacking it, here's a look at some of the controversies, political and otherwise.
Reacting sharply to Banerjee's fulminations, the Congress struck back pointing out that Prime Minster Narendra Modi's and her stand were similar, with one seeking a 'Congress 'Mukt' (Free) India' and the other, an 'Opposition coalition sans Congress'.
Writer David Josef Volodzko said he has advised his female friends to not travel to India alone. His X post followed the alleged gang-rape of the Spanish tourist in Jharkhand's Dumka district.
The party said it is "considering opposing" the proposal for taxing the PF corpus in Parliament.
Delhi faces a severe financial crunch and the deficit is largely due to numerous welfare schemes without adequate revenue flowing in. The success of welfare schemes and electoral promises will need careful financial planning and out of the box thinking to whip up additional revenue, notes Ramesh Menon.
'After the 2024 election results, I have had the realisation that electoral politics is simply not for me. I am therefore quitting all forms of electoral politics with immediate effect.'
The second phase of the Lok Sabha election ended on Friday, April 26, 2024, for 88 seats across 13 states.
Senior Congress leaders admit that the JPC issue has boomeranged against the party, reports Renu Mittal.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah himself sounded more open to such a possibility in a recent interview.
A Kolkata court on Saturday convicted prime accused Sanjay Roy of raping and murdering an on-duty doctor at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, 162 days after the crime that sparked nationwide outrage and led to prolonged protests.
The INDIA bloc has 95 MPs in Rajya Sabha of which 45 were suspended on Monday.
As BJP leaders went all out to project the event as a moment of national pride, some leaders were directly critical of the ceremony with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, belonging to the Communist Party of India-Marxist, slamming the state's role in the Ram Temple consecration, saying the line that demarcates religion and state seems to be 'getting thinner and thinner'.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced on Saturday the nomination of Bollywood actor Mithun Chakraborty as her party Trinamool Congress candidate for the upcoming Rajya Sabha election in the state.
