In another display of the politics of threat in West Bengal, a ruling Trinamool Congress Member of Legislative Assembly openly threatened to "behead" a Congress leader in Birbhum district.
Polling was by and large peaceful in the bypolls for three Lok Sabha and seven assembly seats spread across five states and Delhi on Thursday barring an incident of stabbing of a policeman in Tripura, where polling was the highest at 76.62 per cent.
Various opposition parties like the Congress, the Trinamool Congress, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the Nationalist Congress Party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Communist Party of India, and the Communist Party of India-Marxist raised vociferous protests in the upper house while opposing the resolution and the bill.
Responding to the debate on the bill, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said the ban commercial surrogacy was "the need of the hour".
The Kerala Assembly on Wednesday unanimously passed a resolution demanding that the Centre provide COVID-19 vaccines free of cost to all states, even as the ruling and opposition members clashed over the COVID-19 fatality numbers in the state.
Some US prominent lawmakers have urged the American government to follow suit as it is believed that the short video-sharing app is a major security risk to the country.
The 71-year-old Dalit leader is expected to have a smooth sailing in the event of an election.
It seems the grand old party is trying to stage a comeback in the state which it ruled at one time, but also to its progeny the Trinamool Congress which has vowed to come to power in Tripura in the 2023 state assembly elections.
Despite Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's praise for Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Congress kept cards close to its chest on whether its members of Legislative Assembly would vote in favour of the trust vote sought by him on Wednesday.
A day ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Jammu and Kashmir, mainstream parties as well as separatists organisations were on the same page asking him to restart the dialogue process with Pakistan in finding a lasting solution to the Kashmir issue.
Probodh Panda and Atul Kumar Anjaan are among 39 candidates declared by the Communist Party of India for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls as the party said that it would fight on 60 seats in 24 states.
The BJD won 112 of the 146 assembly seats in the recently concluded assembly polls.
RJD president Lalu Prasad will not attend the celebrations due to ill health.
Dravida Munetra Kazhagam President M Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi was on Thursday reelected to Rajya Sabha with Congress support from Tamil Nadu after a contest with actor Vijayakanth's Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam candidate.
Countering the opposition claim that farmers across the country are agitated over the three new laws, he said that those in just one state are being misinformed and instigated.
At the meeting attended by 33 parties, the prime minister said suggestions from public representatives, especially from the Opposition, are valuable as they make the discussion rich.
Centre wanted to push the Banking Regulation Bill, the Opposition wanted to discuss stalking case.
In yet another jolt for the Trinamool Congress dispensation, West Bengal forest minister Rajib Banerjee quit the Mamata Banerjee cabinet, joining the growing list of dissenters who have put the ruling camp in a tight spot ahead of the assembly elections.
Raina triggered a controversy when he took the name of Mata Vaishno Devi while taking oath
Setting aside their political differences, the ruling CPI-M-led Left Democratic Front and Opposition Congress headed United Democratic Front, once again came together to launch a joint fight against the Centre on the CAA, which has seen unprecedented protests all over the country.
While all political parties have been talking about following in the footsteps of the debutant Aam Admi Party by fielding fresh faces in the coming Lok Sabha polls, Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal-U leader Nitish Kumar has set the ball rolling by deciding not to renominate his party's three sitting MPs in the coming biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha scheduled for February 7. Anita Katyal reports.
After the 18-member 'Assam Advisory Committee' suggested the two organisations to form a political party, a source close to the development said the new outfit will be launched within the next 10 days.
Its electoral triumphs in assembly polls, particularly in Uttar Pradesh, have made the BJP the single-largest party in the Rajya Sabha.
The contentious bill will be tables in RS on Wednesday. The BJP hopes to get up to 130 votes in a 240-member upper house.
The session, which will continue till August 11, is likely to discuss issues like lynching incidents and vigilantism, the Kashmir situation and the border stand-off with China.
Four Janata Dal-United legislators were disqualified on Saturday from the Bihar assembly under the anti-defection law for anti-party activities, including cross voting in Rajya Sabha election.
The JD-U has 115 MLAs in the 243-member assembly, most of who are reportedly with Nitish
Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha, who was a minister himself in the previous National Democratic Alliance government, was visibly shaken at the disdain shown towards the Chair by Samrat Chaudhary who holds the Panchayati Raj portfolio.
The no-confidence motion against the government could not be introduced amid the din in the Lok Sabha.
The top ten richest candidates are from the Trinamool Congress which has won a second consecutive term.
Two months after the "issuance" of fake death certificates in the names of a Tamil Nadu Minister and a member of Legislative Assembly by the city corporation, a birth certificate in the name of AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal has come to fore, sparking demands for a probe into the functioning of e-governance services of the civic body.
Opposition parties, though resigned to the fact that they lack the numbers to defeat or stall the bill in the two Houses, have decided upon different tactics that they would employ to highlight their reasons for opposing it.
In a rare gesture, not only the legislators of the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist)-headed Left Democratic Front and Congress-led United Democratic Front, but the lone Bharatiya Janata Party member in the 140-member state assembly, O Rajagopal, also supported the resolution against the Centre, saying 'it is the democratic spirit'.
Ending a weeklong logjam, Rajya Sabha on Monday resumed normal functioning during the Question Hour after government and opposition leaders agreed to a compromise formula to end protests over Union Minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti's controversial remarks.
Moving the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2019 in the Upper House, Law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the proposed legislation should be not seen through a political prism or vote bank politics, as it aims at ensuring gender dignity, justice and equality.
'He still has to deal with party norms and traditions and has been careful to follow the order of seniority,' points out Claude Arpi.
Union minister Prakash Javadekar said the government has taken care of the interests of everyone and 'the interest of India'.
All you need to know about the Winter session of Parliament.
UP and Bihar contributed 105 seats to the BJP's tally in 2014. It has now lost 8 Lok Sabha by-polls in the last four years, including three successive losses in UP and two seats in Rajasthan.
In the concluding part of the series, Y V Reddy, argues that the proposal strikes at the functioning of federalism and the basic structure of the Constitution, which has served us well so far.
