Several MPs came to the Upper House wearing masks and demanded curtailment of the ongoing Budget session, which is due to end on April 3, in view of the novel coronavirus scare, but the government seemed unwilling.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla recognised Rahul Gandhi as the leader of opposition on Wednesday, a day after the Congress communicated its decision to name him for the position to the Lok Sabha Secretariat.
A major fire broke out in the AC plant of the Parliament complex on Sunday afternoon.
BJP President Amit Shah has authorised Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu to liaise with M Thambidurai and TTV Dinakaran from the Sasikala camp, just in case it turns against the BJP after the income tax raids on its health minister C Vijayabaskar.
Quoting Shakespeare, he noted: "As Shakespeare said of the earlier Queen Elizabeth, she was a pattern to all princes living."
"I am not allowed to speak in the Rajya Sabha often. Should I say it is because I am a Dalit?" he asked.
The two women MPs -- Jothimani and Ramya Haridas -- have filed a complaint with the Speaker Om Birla.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge used poetry and humour to take swipes at the government on Monday, saying nothing will be accomplished by changing names, and went on to recall how first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru's 'inclusive' approach of involving opposition parties had led to the laying of a strong foundation for the Constitution.
Asserting the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) wants a constructive debate on the NEET issue, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Friday said it is unfortunate that they were not allowed to raise it in the Parliament.
Birla informed the House that four persons have been arrested - two from inside the House, and two from outside Parliament in connection with the incident.
No sooner had the House paid its respects to the nine persons who laid down their lives 17 years back when terrorist attacked the Parliament House complex and the listed papers presented, members belonging to the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam trooped into the well of the House shouting slogans.
Questions are being raised on the future of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) as differences among its constituents come to the fore and several parties call for serious introspection by the Congress after a string of debilitating electoral losses.
The TDP and JD-U will have a lot to answer inside Parliament, day after day, session after session, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The session, which is likely to have around 20 sittings, would conclude ahead of Christmas.
Sri Lanka's embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa would resign on Wednesday, Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena announced late on Saturday night, hours after thousands of protesters stormed the former's official residence, blaming his government for an unprecedented economic crisis that has brought the country to its knees.
The row over Bharatiya Janata Party MP Anurag Thakur's remarks in Lok Sabha escalated on Wednesday with the Congress submitting a notice to move a privilege motion against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for posting on 'X' a video that allegedly also contained expunged portions of Thakur's speech.
Corruption and bribery of members of the legislature erode the foundation of Indian parliamentary democracy, the Supreme Court said on Monday.
He indicated his conviction will remain firm even if that "uprising" ultimately puts the party he faithfully served for 13 years in the dock.
Sitharaman, India's first full-time woman finance minister, had in July 2019 ditched the colonial legacy of a Budget briefcase for the traditional 'bahi-khata' to carry Union Budget papers.
Sajith Premadasa, the 55-year-old leader of Sri Lanka's principal opposition party Samagi Jana Balawegaya, said on Tuesday that he was withdrawing from the race of President to provide support to Alahapperuma.
INDIA bloc leaders will protest at Jantar Mantar Friday against suspension of MPs and nationwide protests will also be held in all district headquarters against the government's "immoral and illegal" behaviour of this government, the Leader of the opposition in Rajya Sabha said.
'He fears that the youth tide has gone against him and he will be swept away in the next assembly election in the state.'
Twenty suspended Rajya Sabha members on Wednesday started a 50-hour relay protest inside the Parliament complex, with sources saying the Opposition declined the chairman's offer that they express regret over their members' behaviour in the House to get the suspension revoked.
The six suspended MPs were also present at the protest.
"It is shameful that Rahul Gandhi, instead of coming to Parliament and apologising for his undemocratic rant against India, today seeks to be absent from Parliament," she asserted.
Videos on social media showed protesters climbing a statue of Hasina's father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, a 1971 Liberation War hero, in Dhaka and smashing it with hammers.
The over half-an-hour meeting between the opposition parties and the government, however, remained inconclusive.
'The Congress has no moral right to throw mud at others. The Gandhis talking of corruption sounds worse than the devil quoting scripture.'
MPs and MLAs taking bribes to vote or make a speech in the house are not immune from prosecution, the Supreme Court said on Monday in a landmark, unanimous verdict that overrules its 1998 judgment protecting such lawmakers.
One hopes the new Lok Sabha will mark a break from a dismal tradition -- lack of interest in defence and security policies, argues Colonel Anil A Athale.
K T Rama Rao, leader of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti, the party which has been at the forefront of the fight for a separate state of Telangana, tells Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa that they will ensure that the contentious bill is passed in Parliament at any cost.
Both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha committees had recommended that their suspension be withdrawn after they expressed regret for their conduct during the Winter session when their relentless protests prompted the Chairs to take action.
The terrorist attack on a key Pakistani naval airbase last month during which 10 security personnel were killed and two maritime surveillance aircraft destroyed was carried out with "inside support", senior Pakistani military officials told a Parliamentary panel.
The unity by the opposition parties is likely to reflect inside Parliament as well.
Leaders of the JD-U, which has two ministers in the Union government, insist that the resolution also spoke of "special package and other types of help" and that Bihar could still get a lot from Narendra Modi government.
Opposition presidential candidate Yashwant Sinha on Monday filed his nomination papers for the July 18 election, with a host of leaders including Rahul Gandhi, Sharad Pawar, Akhilesh Yadav and Farooq Abdullah accompanying him.
'The Congress in the past backed the demand, but will not support it now since the SP opposes any division of UP.'
Soon after the suspension of 33 opposition Lok Sabha MPs, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said all democratic norms have been thrown into the dustbin by this "autocratic" government and it has shown zero accountability towards Parliament.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Mahua Moitra has moved the Supreme Court against her expulsion from the Lok Sabha over 'Cash-for-Query' allegations.
The five accused arrested in the December 13 Parliament security breach case have revealed they explored the idea of self-immolation after applying fire-resistent gel on their body to create more dramatic scenes without hurting themselves and get media attention, Delhi Police officials said on Saturday.
