Trinamool Congress strongman Shajahan Sheikh, accused of sexual abuse and land grab in West Bengal's Sandeshkhali, was on Thursday suspended from the party for six years, TMC leader Derek O'Brien said.
'The Election Commission is conducting the National Register of Citizens in Bihar through the backdoor.'
The Election Commission of India has announced that elections for 10 Rajya Sabha seats in Goa, Gujarat, and West Bengal will be held on July 24.
Raising slogans against the Bharatiya Janata Party, Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders ended their 24-hour protest at the Mandir Marg police station in New Delhi on Tuesday evening, a day after they were detained while staging a dharna outside the Election Commission's office.
Dhankhar expressed his anguish on the conduct of Opposition members and left the House for a while.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) directed the removal of West Bengal DGP Rajeev Kumar and mandated the appointment of Vivek Sahay, once suspended by the poll panel, as the new state police chief, with the TMC accusing the BJP of controlling the constitutional body.
A 10-member delegation of Trinamool Congress (TMC) had announced the dharna after meeting a full bench of the Election Commission (EC) to press their demand.
Trinamool Congress leader Derek O'Brien Thursday held West Bengal Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury responsible for an alliance not working out between the two parties in West Bengal.
A delegation of opposition party leaders on Friday met the top brass of Election Commission to raise its concerns over poll code violations by the ruling party leaders, and also flagged concerns over delay in release of voter turnout figures for the first two phases of the polls.
The party brought back Yashwant Sinha as its national vice-president.
Asansol is home to a sizeable migrant population, and the BJP had hoped that Singh would be an effective counter to Sinha, the actor-politician who was in the saffron party for decades before walking out in 2019.
Opposition parties on Wednesday opposed the 'one nation, one election' proposal by calling it impractical and a 'cheap stunt' by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
In a memorandum submitted to the EC, the INDIA party leaders submitted a list of recent instances of central agencies targeting Opposition parties and alleged an absence of a level playing field for the opposition.
Leaders of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) have decided to raise the NEET issue in both houses of Parliament on Friday and members will give notices in this regard, sources have said.
The government has convened an all-party meeting on July 21 ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament which will start next Monday, the Parliamentary Affairs Ministry said.
Wedding preparations for Parineeti Chopra and AAP leader Raghav Chadha are in full swing.
"This is the minimum expectation at this time of national tragedy," she said.
Advertising industry veteran Sylvester daCunha, the creator of the iconic 'Amul Girl' campaign that started in the 1960s, has died, the Gujarat-based milk cooperative that owns the dairy brand said on Wednesday. "Very sorry to inform about the sad demise of Shri Sylvester daCunha, chairman of daCunha Communications last night (Tuesday) at Mumbai," said Jayen Mehta, managing director of Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF).
The opposition parties were demanding a division of votes as they had moved a motion to send the Bill to a select committee, which was rejected by voice vote.
As many as 14 opposition MPs were suspended from Parliament for the remainder of the winter session for disrupting proceedings, as the Lok Sabha security breach incident snowballed into a major row on Thursday with the government asking the opposition not to "politicise" the "grave national issue" and the Congress, Trinamool Congress and others demanding a statement from Home Minister Amit Shah.
Now, the total number of MPs suspended for the remainder of the Winter Session of Parliament stands at 14 -- 13 from the Lok Sabha and one from the Rajya Sabha.
A parliamentary committee scrutinising three bills to replace existing criminal laws did not adopt its draft report as scheduled on Friday, taking into account the submission of some opposition members that they needed more time to study it.
The three frenetic weeks of the Parliament's Winter session saw a security breach in the Lok Sabha, suspension of 146 MPs and the expulsion of Trinamool Congress member Mahua Moitra in the "bribe-for-query" case.
In the letter, they said as members of the committee, it is their moral and constitutional responsibility to discuss this matter with utmost urgency and the required sincerity.
Lawyers have pointed out that the new laws increase police powers by extending the maximum limit of police custody from 15 days to 60 days or 90 days.
From issuing whips to arranging ambulances for their ailing leaders, opposition parties from the newly-formed Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc are making all-out efforts to ensure that they get 100 per cent attendance of their MPs in the Rajya Sabha to give the Bharatiya Janata Party a tough fight on the Delhi services bill next week.
The Congress is hopeful of soon finalising the Lok Sabha poll seat-sharing arrangements with the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) allies Aam Aadmi Party and Trinamool Congress, sources said on Friday, days after the principal opposition party arrived at an understanding with the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh.
West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee will not be attending the swearing-in ceremony of Congress leader Siddaramaiah as the Karnataka CM and has designated party leader Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar for the programme, a Trinamool Congress leader said.
He also pointed out the high sums earned by the coaching centres leading to the commercialisation of education.
Some of them also flagged a lack of consultation before finalising the reports.
Senior Congress leaders P Chidambaram and Digvijaya Singh will now occupy front-row seats after their reallocation by the party.
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the proposal for 'one nation, one Election' as recommended by the Kovind panel, Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Wednesday.
The government had on Friday directed social media platforms Twitter and YouTube to block links to the documentary titled India: The Modi Question.
Congress deputy leader in Rajya Sabha Pramod Tiwari said the first priority should be to hold a comprehensive and detailed discussion on the Manipur situation in Parliament, going by the fact that people have been killed and the chief minister himself has admitted that several such incidents have happened in the state.
Slamming Opposition parties for disrupting parliamentary proceedings, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday said as details of the Parliament security breach incident emerge, it is getting "obvious" that the DNA of those who entered the Lok Sabha is inextricably linked to the "Congress-Communist axis".
Gandhi, who is usually flanked by senior party colleagues, was also greeted by both President Droupadi Murmu and Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar.
The Congress said the rally by the INDIA will send a "strong message" to the Lok Kalyan Marg, where the prime minister's residence is located, that the BJP-led government's "time is up".
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi shared moments together, enquiring about each other's health and strategising on opposition unity on the first day of the Bengaluru summit, sources told PTI.
"The agenda as published at the moment, is much ado about nothing - all this could have waited till Winter session in November. I am sure the legislative grenades are being kept up their sleeves to be unleashed at the last moment as usual. Parde ke peeche kuch aur hai!" he said.
The T-shirt bearing a cartoon picture of the BJP stalwart's face along with the caption 'India's Biggest Pappu' comes in several colours -- white, black and yellow.
