'Parties which supported me were all threatened. This could hardly have been called a fair election.' 'This is Modi's India.'
P Chidambaram and Rajeev Shukla of the Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party's Sumitra Valmiki and Kavita Patidar, former Congress leader Kapil Sibal, Rashtriya Janata Dal's Misa Bharti and Jayant Chaudhary of the Rashtriya Lok Dal were among the 41 winners declared elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha.
First to back P A Sangma, a tribal and minority leader for the Presidential contest, the ruling Biju Janata Dal in Odisha on Thursday hoped for a miracle in his favour as polling for the top post ended at the state assembly.
With the deadline set by the Maoists holding Biju Janata Dal MLA Jhina Hikaka hostage ending on Wednesday, his fate still remained unknown despite the Odisha government's decision to seriously consider withdrawal of prosecution in "suitable cases" involving jailed rebels if the ultras free the legislator.
As the Opposition held its first meeting on the Presidential polls and names of Farooq Abdullah and Gopalkrishna Gandhi also cropped up, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party reached out to several parties across the political spectrum to build a consensus choice with senior party leader and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh speaking to Sharad Pawar, Mallikarjun Kharge (Congress), Mamata Banerjee (Trinamool Congress), Akhilesh Yadav (Samajwadi Party) and Naveen Patnaik (Biju Janata Dal).
Naveen Patnaik, who steered the Biju Janata Dal to a landslide victory in the Odisha assembly elections, was on Wednesday sworn in as chief minister for a fourth consecutive term.
Speaking at the meeting called by the central government, Modi said India is in a better position than many other countries in terms of the ratio of the population hit by the disease but underlined the need to remain vigilant as he cited the resurgence of the infection in some countries like the UK, sources said.
Cracking the whip, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday summarily expelled eight of its MPs who cross-voted or abstained during the trust vote as shocked opposition parties got down to fix errant MPs whose actions helped the United Progressive Alliance government survive.
Former Bharatiya Janata Party leader Yashwant Sinha who joined Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Saturday said his tipping point to join the party was when West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee got attacked in Nandigram.
Lok Sabha MP Baijayant 'Jay' Panda has submitted a private member's bill in the Lok Sabha to reduce the controversial section 66A of the Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008 to merely an anti-spam provision.
In the second phase on April 18, 97 seats,spread across 13 states and one Union Territory, will go to the polls.
Counting of votes is underway in assembly byelection to 58 seats in 11 states including Madhya Pradesh where the results will decide the fate of the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government.
The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday approved the bill giving primacy to Delhi's Lieutenant Governor (L-G) over the elected government after high drama in the House that saw uproar by the opposition and a walkout by MPs of parties like the BJD, SP, Congress and the YSRC.
The Major Ports Authority Bill, 2020 was passed through ballot votes in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday with 84 votes in its favour and 44 against it. The Lok Sabha had passed the bill on September 23 last year.
Elections are scheduled in five states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Goa and Punjab.
Sparking speculation of cracks within the ruling Biju Janata Dal in Odisha, two groups t held separate meetings on Tuesday night at the houses of party member of Parliament Pyari Mohan Mohapatra and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who is on a London visit.
'I don't think there will be any problem for Hindus to accept Adityanath as the leader, since they have already chosen Modi.'
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.
by relentlessly campaigning to highlight the indifference of the Centre to safeguard the interests of Odisha in these inter-state disputes, the BJD is seeking to pin down the BJP.
Naveen Patnaik's guest list has been prepared with an eye on the forthcoming Lok Sabha and assembly polls, reports Archis Mohan.
This race among parties to woo the farmers mainly stems from the analysis of political pundits that the peasant class played a crucial role in the defeat of the BJP in Rajasthan, MP and Chhattisgarh.
'That's the beauty of Naveen.' 'His intermittent support to the NDA and Modi confuses BJP workers in Odisha.' 'It gives an impression that Naveen has a tacit understanding with the NDA and that the BJP will not really challenge him wholeheartedly.'
If there is unity in the Opposition, it is only about regional parties other than the DMK not wanting Rahul Gandhi or any other Congress leader for prime minister, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
To maintain dignity of the House, government was forced to place this proposal of suspension, minister Pralhad Joshi said
The Congress-led government was caught napping over the Left Front's opposition to the India-United States nuclear agreement, feels B J Panda, a member of the Rajya Sabha.
Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge and some other members sought that the bill be referred to a standing committee for scrutiny.
Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com gives the lowdown on the constituencies going to polls in the first phase on April 11.
This issue was raised in the Lok Sabha by BJD member Bhartruhari Mahtab who said Chand has the potential to win a gold medal in Olympics and government must help her in the case.
To beat BJP, you either deny them a critical mass of Hindu vote or build a regional leader and party strong enough to protect their turf, observes Shekhar Gupta.
Cross-voting by Left and Congress MLAs on Friday helped Trinamool Congress gain an extra seat in West Bengal while a similar action by Congress MLAs in Andhra Pradesh saw the Telangana Rashtra Samithi making its debut in Rajya Sabha as high drama marked the polls to the upper House in the two states.
Modi said the National Democratic Alliance government wouldn't have been able to do any development work in the country without the support of the people.
The ordinance over the Polavaram irrigation project triggered the first protest in the 16th Lok Sabha with Telangana Rashtra Samiti members storming the Well against the measure.
Opposition parties now recognise that the king on one side of the chessboard, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is ensconced, and unlikely to be shaken, although on his side there are no identifiable kings, queens, rooks, bishops or knights.
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Sunday hit back at Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for calling the national party "corrupt", saying the ruling Biju Janata Dal is responsible for a series of scams in the state.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday said the "unfortunate" and "unprecedented" developments in West Bengal
No-trust motion battle was between BJP's majority and our morality, says TDP chief.
All eyes will be on the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Biju Janata Dal and the Sena itself to see which way they vote.
Birla, 57, has been MLA from Rajasthan thrice and MP twice.
'We might have lacked somewhere but our commitment was absolute. We might have made mistakes and fallen short to some extent. We might not have done something but what did you do'
The Biju Janata Dal will not oppose the government simply for the sake of opposing it, BJD Member of Parliament Bhratruhari Mahtab tells Aditi Phadnis.
