He said that his primary goal would be to strengthen the political momentum to replace the Congress government with BJP rule in the coming assembly polls in Karnataka.
Newly-elected leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party legislative party in Bihar, Samrat Choudhary, met Governor Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (retd) at Lok Bhavan on Tuesday and staked a claim to form the government in the state.
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.
Rajya Sabha witnessed heated exchanges between the treasury and opposition benches after Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge made remarks on the manner in which political parties select women candidates from weaker sections and raised the issue of 'delayed' GST payments to non-Bharatiya Janata Party ruled states.
On paper, as many as 136 members should have opposed the Bill in a House of 241 members, reports Archis Mohan,
The House has been adjourned until 1400 hours.
Members of the Bharatiya Janata Party disrupted proceedings in the Upper House as Karat read out a confessional statement allegedly given by a riot-accused, who had conceded that Hindu fundamentalists were behind the incidents of violence in Malegaon.
The leaders would meet again later in the day to clear the remaining eight names.
In the Opposition camp, the Congress, which contested 99 seats, won 19 constituencies, while the Badruddin Ajmal-led AIUDF and Akhil Gogoi-led Raijor Dal secured two seats each, and the Trinamool Congress bagged one constituency.
Bharatiya Janata Party nominee S Selvaganapathy was declared elected unopposed to the lone seat in Rajya Sabha from Puducherry, the first time the saffron party has got representation in the Upper House from the Union Territory, while Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's two nominees, Kanimozhi N V N Somu and K R N Rajeshkumar, were elected without contest from Tamil Nadu.
On Tuesday, the government had agreed to refer it to the committee.
The Tamil Nadu Congress Committee and the Congress Legislature Party have decided to extend its full support to the TVK to form the government, AICC Tamil Nadu in-charge Girish Chodankar said in a statement citing TVK chief Vijay's request seeking support.
Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee shared a poem titled 'Brave' after her party's defeat in the West Bengal Assembly polls. The poem invokes courage, dignity, and inner strength, serving as a message to the TMC cadre.
A sessions court in Mumbai acquitted Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut in a defamation case filed by BJP leader Kirit Somaiya's wife, Medha Somaiya, who alleged Raut made defamatory allegations against her and her husband regarding a Rs 100 crore scam.
Sources said that Shiv Sena MPs Sanjay Raut and Anil Desai will now sit in the opposition benches during the Winter Session of Parliament, beginning Monday.
This is the sixth day that Parliament has been disrupted.
Sunetra Pawar, widow of late Ajit Pawar, is set to be sworn in as Maharashtra's first woman Deputy Chief Minister, replacing her husband in the state cabinet. Her appointment follows a meeting of the NCP legislature wing where she is expected to be named as its leader.
The BJP decided to register its protest against the manner in which, it says, he used an old rule to punish All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam member of Parliament Dr V Maithreyan on Thursday
It was a moment of pride for Olympian boxer MC Mary Kom as she took oath as a Rajya Sabha MP in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Opposition parties want to contest the election to the post of the deputy chairman on August 21 while the Congress is keen to get its nominee P J Kurien get elected unopposed.
Sinh, who has been in the BJP earlier and was elected to Lok Sabha on its ticket in 90s, wields considerable influence in the Amethi region of Uttar Pradesh.
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey has issued an unconditional apology for claiming that former Odisha Chief Minister Biju Patnaik was linked to the CIA during the 1960s. The apology comes after widespread criticism from within and outside the BJP.
The 61-year-old had submitted a fresh resignation letter as per the prescribed format, tendering a hand-written one-line letter.
Bharatiya Janata Party candidates Dineshchamdra Jemalbhai Ananvadiya and Rambhai Harjibhai Mokariya won both Rajya Sabha seats from Gujarat on Monday.
The INDIA bloc faces challenges after recent state election defeats for key members like TMC and DMK, potentially shifting internal dynamics and leadership considerations.
Ignoring JD-S' request for support, the Congress did not withdraw its second candidate Khan from the fray and issued a whip to all its MLAs asking them to vote for the party's candidates.
The Modi government is learning to deal with the reality that it does not have a majority in the Rajya Sabha.
Continuing dynasty politics, Rashtriya Janata Dal Chief Lalu Prasad on Friday nominated his daughter Misa Bharti to Rajya Sabha, reports MI I Khan.
NDA partner Bodoland People's Front (BPF) is expected to secure a majority of the 15 Assembly seats in the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) of Assam, leading in 10 constituencies, according to Election Commission data. The BJP, a major partner in the ruling NDA, leads in three seats, while the UPPL and Congress are ahead in one seat each.
NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar defends the Congress party's right to contest the Baramati assembly bypoll, criticising his grandnephew Parth Pawar's remarks against the Congress candidate. Pawar cites the importance of electoral contest and questions Parth's political maturity.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Jharkhand faced embarrassment on Thursday when their candidate S S Ahluwalia lost the Rajya Sabha elections, which was held afresh after being countermanded earlier as the Congress and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha bagged the two seats.
Sunetra Pawar, who is not a member of either house of the Maharashtra legislature, will be elected as leader of the legislature wing of the Nationalist Congress Party at a meeting in Mumbai on Saturday, after which she is likely to take oath as deputy CM.
The BJP-led NDA now has nearly 100 members in the 245-member House. If the support of friendly parties like the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (9), Biju Janata Dal (9), Yuvajana Shramika Rythu Congress Party (6), and several allied nominated members and smaller parties is counted, then the Modi government is unlikely to face any serious numerical challenge there.
The party also nominated six others, including former Union minister Beni Prasad Verma, an influential Kushwaha leader who recently quit Congress and returned to the Samajwadi Party, and realtor Sanjay Seth for the biennial polls scheduled next month.
Congress veteran Kapil Sibal had on Wednesday filed his nomination as an SP-backed Independent candidate for the Rajya Sabha polls.
Chairman of the Upper House Venkaiah Naidu Naidu clarified that the Triple Talaq Bill will not be taken up on Friday as a consensus has not yet been evolved on the issue.
Embarrassment apart, it is a reminder to the Narendra Modi government that it is in acute minority in the Upper House
Seven members are retiring from Maharashtra followed by six each from Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, five each from West Bengal and Bihar, four each from Orissa and Gujarat.
Political activity in Bihar is all set to intensify once the inauspicious kharmas period ends on April 14. Will Nitish Kumar pull another rabbit out of his hat? M I Khan reports.
Former JD(U) leader KC Tyagi has joined the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), citing shared ideologies with Chaudhary Charan Singh and Ram Manohar Lohia. He aims to strengthen the party and champion the cause of farmers.
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