On December 4, the Union Cabinet cleared the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill that seeks to grant citizenship to non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan if they faced religious persecution there. The government intends to introduce bill in Parliament's Winter Session next week. What is this legislation and why is it contentious?
The Bharatiya Janata Party's victory in the assembly polls on Thursday has put the party on a stronger wicket for the election for the post of President expected later this year.
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.
Narendra Modi on Tuesday tore into Naveen Patnaik government over lack of development in Odisha and mocked the fledgling Third Front, of which Patnaik's Biju Janata Dal is a member, saying its only job is to "save" Congress.
An analysis of the assets data from Association of Democratic Reforms shows that the average assets of a winner of the 2014 LS election was more than the average assets of a candidate: more the money you have, more the chances of winning.
It said the election to Patkura assembly seat in Odisha will be held on July 20.
The TMC also announced it would hold talks with other regional parties in their bid to take on the BJP in the crucial 2024 elections but at the same time denied that it was planning a third front, separate from the Congress-led front.
He claimed even the media is debarred from entering the secretariat and reaching out to the chief minister and thus changes need to be made in the governance model in Odisha.
Unsure about having the numbers in the Rajya Sabha, the Congress, the Trinamool Congress and other parties have decided they will create awareness about the "divisive" nature of the proposed legislation, reports Archis Mohan.
However, a majority in the Council of States will continue to elude the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.
Patnaik's image of a "clean and honest" politician is widely regarded as the reason why he was able to withstand a spirited challenge thrown by the Bharatiya Janata Party, analysts say of perhaps the lone regional satrap who cannot even properly speak the language of his native state.
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.
The conference was seen by many as a show of strength by the Opposition with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, his Jharkhand counterpart Hemant Soren and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav joining in to raise their voice against oppression of backward classes.
English marks in the Civil Service Aptitude Test-II will not be included for gradation or merit and 2011 candidates may get a second chance to appear for the test next year, the government announced in Lok Sabha today seeking to defuse the Union Public Service Commission row that has seen the aspirants on warpath.
'Elections are fought to win.' 'In our party, the leadership takes the final decision, and our leaders are very clear about it.'
Many ethical, competent corporate leaders aspire to join public life today. However, the transition to politics is far from easy, observes Indrajit Gupta.
The Rajya Sabha on Thursday passed a bill to replace a British-era law governing the publishing industry and simplify the process for registration of periodicals with the government.
Bowing to opposition pressure, the government has agreed to refer the controversial Insurance Bill to a Select Committee of Parliament, which will have 15 members.
'Those who are part of the NDA, like the JDU and LJP in Bihar, should also think. Polls are approaching in Bihar, people will seek answers from them'
Modi told the leaders that Tomar was just a phone call away for protesting farmers and the agriculture minister had conveyed the same to farmer leaders earlier this month.
The contentious Land bill passed the Lok Sabha test after the government carried out nine amendments.
The 56-year-old leader is considered to be close to both Modi and BJP president Amit Shah.
Likening the situation in the country to a "social emergency", Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday made it clear that the nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of Covid-19 cannot be lifted in one go on April 14, asserting that the priority of his government is to "save each and every life".
The session will commence with the maiden address of President Droupadi Murmu to the joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament. The address essentially highlights the government's achievements and policy priorities.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah asked the opposition on Monday to allow a debate on the Manipur issue to begin in Parliament but the deadlock persisted in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha as both sides refused to budge from their stand, with Congress and its allies insisting on a statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi first.
The name of the next vice president of India will be known on Saturday evening after members of Parliament cast their ballot during the day in Parliament House.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday effected a major reshuffle in his three-year-old ministry inducting 12 fresh faces into his new team of 21 ministers.
The Left parties, Janata Dal (United), and two other Opposition members on the committee opposed raising the foreign direct investment limit in the insurance sector from 26 per cent to 49 per cent.
Voting will be held on Thursday in bypolls to seven assembly seats in six states -- a contest symbolic of the fierce turf war between the Bharatiya Janata Party and regional parties.
Candidates of the Naveen Patnaik-led party have won in 105 assembly seats, while the Congress has won 16 seats (11 in the previous assembly), and the Bharatiya Janata party 10 seats.
In a letter to Dhankhar, Ramesh said sending the Bill to the joint committee of both Houses means "devaluation and denigration" of the status and functions of the standing committee.
Accusing the Modi government of interfering in states ruled by non-BJP parties by creating "artificial crisis" there, the Janata Dal-United on Monday appealed to regional parties such as the Trinamool Congress, the Biju Janata Dal and the Samajwadi Party to "join hands" to counter the "dirty designs".
A senior TRS leader had said his party expects the Congress to not cross the 100-seats mark.
In what analysts are terming as a political masterstroke, the ruling Biju Janata Dal President Naveen Patnaik Friday decided that his party will field candidates from Other Backward Castes (OBC) for 27 per cent of seats in the forthcoming three-tier panchayat elections in Odisha.
With the Biju Janata Dal backing the National Democratic Alliance's presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu, the vote share of the ruling dispensation has now crossed 50 percent, virtually paving the way for her election as the first tribal President and the youngest too.
Shree Jagannath Sena, a Puri-based outfit, submitted a memorandum to the President, seeking her intervention to facilitate the process of bringing back the Kohinoor diamond to the 12th-century shrine.
Leaders from different political parties raised the issue of the gruesome murder and rape of a veterinary doctor in Telangana in Parliament on Monday.
Biju Janata Dal supremo and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who was the first to advocate an alternative government minus Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party at the Centre, on Tuesday said it was still too early for such a move.
Congress leaders were in for a rude shock on Monday when the media sidelined their much-touted Jawaharlal Nehru birth anniversary event, and instead turned its full attention to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was addressing thousands of supporters in Sydney's Allphones Arena
The CBI has been probing the activities of 44 ponzi companies in the state which allegedly duped thousands of investors of their hard earned deposits.
