The present strength of the electoral college is 781 as six seats are vacant in the Rajya Sabha and one in the Lok Sabha. This puts the majority mark at 391. The NDA has 425 MPs, while the opposition camp has the backing of 324.
The stage is set for a direct contest between NDA nominee C P Radhakrishnan and joint opposition candidate B Sudershan Reddy for the September 9 vice-presidential election. Nominations have been scrutinized and accepted.
Opposition MPs in India have moved notices in Parliament seeking the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, accusing him of bias, misconduct, and acting under the influence of the executive.
The amendments will also allow the NIA to probe cyber crimes and cases of human trafficking.
BJP sources said the party has sought a reply from the South Delhi MP for his use of unparliamentary words.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a scathing attack on the TMC, accusing the party of looting West Bengal for 15 years, destroying the state's identity through corruption and infiltration, and turning Jadavpur University into a symbol of disorder.
The debate on the Rafale jet fighter deal saw a head-on collision between the government and the Congress in Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
Union ministers Ravneet Singh Bittu and George Kurian were elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha Tuesday along with senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi and former minister Upendra Kushwaha.
'The reason why they rushed through the bill was they wanted to avoid using the 2026 Census because the 2026 Census by their own decision will be a caste census.' 'The BJP knows that a significant share of the OBCs who will get captured in the census, for the first time after the 1931 Census, are against the BJP. Only a segment of the OBCs are in their favour.' 'So they wanted to avoid the OBC reservation among women, which is a demand of a lot of Opposition parties.'
A big question mark is on whether Shashi Tharoor, who had led the delegation to the US among other countries, will be picked as speaker by the Congress, as the seasoned Lok Sabha member's enthusiastic endorsement of the government's action following the terror attack has soured his ties with his party.
The stage is set for a direct contest between NDA nominee C P Radhakrishnan and joint opposition candidate B Sudershan Reddy for the vice-presidential election. The BJP-led alliance has a clear edge in the poll necessitated due to the sudden resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar.
Congress members staged a walkout after Singh said that "a boat is bound to sink if it has a hole".
Kirti Azad, a known detractor of Jaitley, egged on the Congress to seek a time-bound SIT probe.
The 15th Lok Sabha, perceived as the worst-ever with many unprecedented low moments, came to an end on Friday on an harmonious note, with leaders from the ruling and opposition sides showering praises on each other.
The election for the post of Vice President will be held on September 9, with the notification being issued on August 7 and the last date for filing nominations on August 21.
The BJP has filed a police complaint against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, accusing him of "physical assault and incitement" during a scuffle in Parliament premises. The complaint alleges that Gandhi, along with other opposition MPs, forcefully barged toward NDA MPs who were protesting against "misinformation" being propagated by opposition parties. The BJP has sought Gandhi's indictment under sections of attempt to murder and other charges. The Congress has strongly rejected the claim, alleging that BJP MPs pushed their chief Mallikarjun Kharge and "physically manhandled" Rahul Gandhi. Both parties have filed complaints with the police.
Replying to a debate on Motion of Thanks to the President's Address in Lok Sabha, Modi also attacked the Congress for its politics in the last seven decades, saying the party's politics of last 70 years has been such that no Congress leader can be self-sufficient.
The passing of bills without Parliament, including the treasury benches, having any real understanding of what they contained through any rigorous process has accelerated through the Modi era, points out Aakar Patel.
''Women are coming into public spaces in larger numbers than ever before. They are educated, capable, opinionated, and determined.' 'But the more women push for access to public space, the harder they are pushed back -- through attacks like this, through discrimination, through the glass ceiling, through the deliberate denial of recognition.'
India's Parliament is set to begin its Budget session on Friday, with opposition parties poised to demand a discussion on the alleged mismanagement of the Maha Kumbh festival in Prayagraj, where 30 pilgrims died in a stampede. The opposition also accused the government of politicising parliamentary committees and pushing its agenda through its majority. The session will start with President Droupadi Murmu addressing both houses of Parliament. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget on Saturday for the eighth consecutive time.
The joint committee of Parliament examining the Waqf (Amendment) Bill submitted its report to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Thursday. The panel adopted the report by a majority vote, with changes suggested by members of the ruling BJP. Opposition members, who submitted dissent notes, called the exercise an attempt to destroy Waqf boards and termed the bill an attack on the constitutional rights of the Muslim community.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra criticizes the government's proposed bill to replace MGNREGA, arguing it weakens the guaranteed 100 days of employment for the poor and centralizes control over the scheme.
Slamming Opposition parties for disrupting parliamentary proceedings, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday said as details of the Parliament security breach incident emerge, it is getting "obvious" that the DNA of those who entered the Lok Sabha is inextricably linked to the "Congress-Communist axis".
Trinamool Congress members and some from the Congress trooped in the Well of the House raising slogans demanding a copy of the report.
A Supreme Court lawyer has written to the Attorney General seeking consent to initiate contempt proceedings against BJP MP Nishikant Dubey for his "grossly scandalous" remarks against the court. Dubey had criticized the Supreme Court and Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna following the Centre's assurance that it would not implement some of the contentious provisions of the Waqf (Amendment) Act. The BJP has distanced itself from Dubey's comments, calling them his personal views.
Officials aware of the procedure to appoint and remove Supreme Court and high court judges pointed out that while defending his case before lawmakers in any of the House, Justice Varma can announce that he is quitting and his verbal statement will be considered as his resignation.
BJP MP Kangana Ranaut praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Lok Sabha, stating he has 'hacked the hearts of the people' and criticized the opposition for disruptions and EVM tampering allegations.
'When I asked Suvendu about the news that Didi was going to fight in his constituency, he said, 'Aami okhaney lorbo aar okhaney okey harabo (I will contest from there and defeat her there)' This was his comment while we were standing on the truck doing our roadshow.'
The report was earlier listed in the agenda of the lower house for December 4 but was not tabled.
The row over the appointment of Bharatiya Janata Party leader and seven-term member Bhartruhari Mahtab as the pro-tem speaker is likely to cast a shadow over the session.
The Bharatiya Janata Party is inquiring into the absence of its nearly 20 MPs from the Lok Sabha during the voting on Tuesday on the introduction of the bill for simultaneous elections.
The BJP had no option but to get Jagdeep Dhankhar out of its way for the sake of the Modi government's stability, reveals Sheela Bhatt, the legendary political journalist.
Gandhi said the central issue is that they are attacking the Constitution and insulting the memory of Ambedkar.
A political slugfest broke out between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Trinamool Congress on Monday after the latter accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of insulting Bankim Chandra Chatterjee by calling him 'Bankim da', prompting a counter-attack from the saffron party, which accused West Bengal's ruling party of defiling the state's cultural legacy for a decade.
The Congress party has accused the BJP of engaging in "damage control" after the party distanced itself from comments made by two of its MPs, Nishikant Dubey and Dinesh Sharma, criticizing the Supreme Court. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh stated that the BJP's clarification was merely an attempt to mitigate the damage caused by the MPs' remarks and that the party's actions were hypocritical, given the silence of the BJP president on similar comments made by other party members.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla is expected to name the committee's chairperson soon.
The RSS which catapulted Jagdeep Dhankar to national prominence after 21 years of hibernation could not come to his rescue when BJP higher ups decided to seek his resignation, points out Prakash Bhandari.
Rahul Gandhi said that had an INDIA Bloc government negotiated the trade agreement with the US, it would have told US President Donald Trump that he should treat India as an equal.
Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav has demanded that Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Parliament Ashok Argal, who made allegations of bribery against his party in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, be arrested immediately.Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav termed the allegation as a 'drama' staged by the saffron party when they were about to be 'exposed for offering money' to RJD's Pappu Yadav.
Ethics Committee Chairman Vinod Kumar Sonkar tabled the panel's first report when the House re-convened at noon after an adjournment during the Question Hour.
