Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley on Sunday said that Narendra Modi is the "best possible card" for the party in the Lok Sabha elections and dismissed media speculation that L K Advani was opposed to his elevation.
An all-party meeting on Monday failed to hammer out a consensus over the controversial Insurance Bill, which was scheduled to be taken up in Rajya Sabha.
Cutting across party lines, political leaders welcomed the government's decision to confer Bharat Ratna, the nation's highest civilian honour, on former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and freedom fighter Madan Mohan Malviya.
The session will have 20 working days for now.
Both houses of Parliament were prorogued on Friday, almost a month after being adjourned sine die, ending the possibility of an extension of the Monsoon session in the face of continued stand-off between government and opposition.
The Congress has reasons to enjoy the BJP's discomfiture. After all, the Insurance Bill was introduced by the UPA government in 2008 but was constantly blocked by the BJP on some pretext or the other which was then in the Opposition.
After their victory in the assembly polls in Haryana and Maharashtra, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday moved forward towards government formation in both states with party chief Amit Shah holding parleys with Union Minister Nitin Gadkari for charting out further strategy.
Thursday was the penultimate day of the Budget Session of Parliament. The second half of the session which began on March 5 has been a washout with no legislative business being transacted due to stalling of proceedings by the opposition.
'Although the tactical move to outflank the BJP fell through with New Delhi's decisive intervention and eventual dissolution of the state assembly, the PDP, NC and the Congress appeared to be more than satisfied.' 'They see the assembly dissolution as their 'great achievement'.' 'If one were to believe what they say, this was also their main objective,' reveals Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the doyen of Kashmiri commentators.
Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday dispelled any impression that he was not enthusiastic about Narendra Modi as Prime Ministerial candidate, saying he has already given his "best wishes" to him after he was appointed the BJP campaign chief for the Lok Sabha elections.
The imapsse continues over issues like bank scams and special status demand for Andhra Pradesh.
Protests continued for the 14th day, seeing proceedings in the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha being washed out.
A six-time member of Parliament, Kumar had climbed the political ladder steadily from being an Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh worker to be the Union minister in his thirties.
The second leg of the budget session is virtually heading towards a complete washout.
All eyes will be on the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Biju Janata Dal and the Sena itself to see which way they vote.
Chandrakant Khaire said his party -- the partner of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the National Democratic Alliance - was not consulted on the decision of NDA MPs sacrificing 23 days pay to protest the disruptions in Parliament.
The Bharatiya Janata Party President said that it is difficult to make a guess who will win in Punjab.
A day after the Maharashtra assembly polls gave a fractured verdict, the political picture continues to remain nebulous with speculation rife about whether it will be a Nationalist Congress Party-propped Bharatiya Janata Party ministry or a coalition regime with the Shiv Sena.
Given Modi's penchant for springing a surprise, the BJP nominee for next President could be anyone. The only thing certain is that it will be an RSS person, reports R Rajagopalan.
President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday condoled the death of Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and said his contribution to public service will always be remembered.
The chief minister is not being hailed as the leader who led the party to a victory in the state.
In the given scenario, Doiwala MLA Trivendra Singh Rawat and Pithoragarh MLA Prakash Pant emerge as the two most favourites.
'Win or lose, the BJP's Delhi unit is clearly in a mess. Its behaviour offers a textbook example in how not to approach an election.'
Knocking out Congress from its bastions, the Modi wave placed BJP on the cusp of forming a government in Maharashtra with unexpected support from Nationalist Congress Party while it stormed to power on its own in Haryana.
In Rajya Sabha, the Opposition and the government clashed over technicalities of the passage of an anti-graft amendment bill with the latter insisting that it should be adopted without debate.
BJP leaders said the party will take corrective measures, while its long-time ally Shiv Sena appeared taking a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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.
He accused the Congress of putting up obstacles to the temple's construction through 'its lawyers' in the Supreme Court.
With neither the Bharatiya Janata Party nor the Shiv Sena willing to yield ground on the number of Assembly seats they want to contest, the alliance between them seems to be on the brink.
'This is not Ahmedabad Gymkhana but people's house'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the passage of bills as a "momentous occasion" in parliamentary democracy and said a new dawn awaits the people there as they are now free from the "shackles" of vested interest groups.
The Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi met on Tuesday morning to clear the Bill that is likely to come up in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday
NDA ally, the TDP continued to disrupt the both Houses of the Parliament over demand for special status to Andhra Pradesh.
Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, Assam and the Union Territory of neighbouring Puducherry are likely to go to polls in April or May.
BJP president Amit Shah had said during the campaign that the party was fighting the election under Rupani and Nitin Patel.
It is increasingly clear that for the BJP to try and establish itself as an electoral force in Tamil Nadu, the party has to come out of the old Brahminical mould, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The bill was taken up for consideration in the Lok Sabha after the Speaker rejected Opposition demands to refer the key reform measure to a parliamentary Standing Committee.
In a bid to break the logjam in Parliament over demonetisation, the government on Wednesday reached out to the opposition with Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar holding talks with Congress and TMC leaders.
Despite the monsoon session of Parliament being a near washout so far, the government hopes to resolve the impasse at an all-party meeting on Monday to pave the way for discussion on issues raised by the Opposition, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu said.
The Bill, which was already approved by the Rajya Sabha, defines child pornography, making it punishable.
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