Birla, 57, has been MLA from Rajasthan thrice and MP twice.
Shree Jagannath Temple Administration under the state law department, did not respond to the queries of Bolangir-based RTI activist Hemant Panda.
The RSS wants three nominees inducted: Tejaswi Surya, the young BJP MP from Bengaluru South, Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, a Rajya Sabha member, and former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.
With the Income Tax department recovering over Rs 225 crore cash during a series of raids on an Odisha-based distillery group on charges of tax evasion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday assured the people that the money looted from the public will be returned.
Sunil Gatade and Venkatesh Kesari reveal that Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar's name is now doing the rounds as President Kovind's likely successor.
Besides the national capital, polling for the sixth round of the marathon seven-phase elections will be held Saturday in 14 seats in Uttar Pradesh, all 10 seats of Haryana, eight seats each in Bihar and West Bengal, six seats in Odisha, four seats in Jharkhand and one seat in Jammu and Kashmir.
Despite desertion by 40 MPs, the NDA's vote count went down by only six.
The video conference comes amidst indications that the central government may extend the lockdown across the country beyond April 14 after several states have favoured the extension to contain the fast-spreading virus.
Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu announced in the House that the election will be held at 11 am on August 9.
While the Congress demanded immediate sacking of Chief Minister N Biren Singh, the Samajwadi Party and a few others sought imposition of President's rule in the state that has witnessed sporadic violence in since May 3.
Das, a law graduate, was in politics from his college days and was elected as the Students' Union president at Gangadhar Meher College at Sambalpur, one of the oldest colleges in western Odisha.
Odisha's Health Minister Naba Kishore Das, a confidant of the chief minister, was shot and grievously injured when he got out of his car on Sunday, allegedly by a police officer who was captured, officials said.
MP MP Baijayant Jay Panda admitted that this is nothing compared to the huge amount of money that has been wasted.
The Election Commission will start counting votes for Vidhan Sabha elections on May 23. The assembly elections were held in four states -- Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim -- simultaneously with the Lok Sabha Elections over April and May. The Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, and Sikkim Assemblies went to polls in the duration between 11 April and 19 May, and the Election Commission will declare the results for at least 534 assembly seats - which is almost as many as the Lok Sabha seats - on May 23.
BJP heavyweights Smriti Irani, Arjun Munda, Ajay Mishra Teni and Kailash Chaudhary were among the 13 Union ministers who tasted defeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, as stunning losses in three Hindi heartland states forced the BJP to rely on allies to form the government.
Most BJP-led NDA CMs will also be present when Kovind files his papers.
Though the Bharatiya Janata Party is not overly worried about getting the amended land acquisition bill through in the Upper House, it has nevertheless decided to have a three-day gap between the dates of the sitting of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha for the Budget session.
In his three-page-long resignation letter to party president and Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, he wrote, "It is with deep anguish, hurt and sorrow that I have decided to quit the kind of politics into which our BJD has descended."
As Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar frowned at the Centre, the Bharatiya Janata Party ion Monday took a dig at him, saying he was led up the "garden path" by the Congress on the issue of special status and hinted that this had led to its split with the BJP.
Sources said the Congress may consider opposing the bill when it is introduced in Parliament. The Aam Aadmi Party, which is in power in Delhi, has been seeking the support of various political parties on the matter.
'Elections are fought to win.' 'In our party, the leadership takes the final decision, and our leaders are very clear about it.'
Trinamool Congress's Lok Sabha MP Dinesh Trivedi would get the award for 2016 and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad would get it for 2015, the Lok Sabha secretariat said in a statement.
Rampur Sadar and Khatauli in Uttar Pradesh, Padampur in Odisha, Sardarshahar in Rajasthan, Kurhani in Bihar and Bhanupratappur in Chhattisgarh are the assembly seats where the bypolls are being held.
The productivity of the Budget session was abysmal. The Lok Sabha functioned for 33% of its scheduled time (46 hours); the Rajya Sabha 24% (32 hours).
The Delhi services bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha on Monday with 131 MPs voting in its favour and helping the government complete the parliamentary procedure for the proposed legislation that saw the opposition parties join ranks.
Both the BJP and Congress understand that coalitions and alliances are not just about numbers, but have symbolic value.
Many ethical, competent corporate leaders aspire to join public life today. However, the transition to politics is far from easy, observes Indrajit Gupta.
The move is being seen as an attempt to forge opposition unity to defeat the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.
'Many veteran leaders in the Odisha BJP had met them, but their problems were never sorted out.'
Telugu Desam Party chief and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu is coordinating the meeting. He has invited the leaders of all the non-BJP parties.
The ruling Biju Janata Dal in Odisha on Wednesday appeared to be sending signals to the Bharatiya Janata Party over its possible outside support to a National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has registered cases against six sitting and former members of Rajya Sabha in connection with the LTC scam in which travel reimbursement was allegedly claimed by them through purportedly forged bills.
Now, every state election -- first up, Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand later this year, then Delhi in January and Bihar in September next year -- will be seen by his followers for evidence of his recovery, and by rivals of sharpening decline, points out Shekhar Gupta.
M Thambidurai of the All India Dravida Munetra Kazhagam is set to be elected unopposed as Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha after all major parties, including Congress, extended support to his andidature.
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.
Political observers are keen to see if the BJP will now be guided by its more firmly entrenched ideological dominance in picking a face solidly identified with its core planks, or if it will choose a person tilted more to its electoral calculations. Or, whether its pick will be an ode to its core supporters or a outreach to relatively new groups of votaries.
Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah engaged in a war of words on Twitter after the passage of the triple talaq bill in Rajya Sabha, with the latter stating that PDP leaders abstaining from voting "helped the government with the numbers needed to pass the bill."
On paper, as many as 136 members should have opposed the Bill in a House of 241 members, reports Archis Mohan,
This after most of the Opposition including the Congress, Left parties, the Trinamool Congress, the Samajwadi Party and the Nationalist Congress Party decided to boycott House proceedings in protest against the suspension of eight MPs for the remainder of the session for unruly behaviour.
Ruptures in the opposition unity emerged barely a week after 17 parties joined hands to put up a joint candidate against the ruling National Democratic Alliance nominee for the July 17 presidential election.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances