'The jail staff told me Kasab was served only jail food and not biryani.' 'They told me that Kasab was beaten regularly after court proceedings.' 'And they filled Kasab's bottle with urine so that whenever he felt thirsty he used to drink urine.'
The turbulent relations between Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar and INDIA bloc parties came to a head on Friday with sources saying that the opposition is considering submitting a notice for moving a resolution to remove the vice president from his office.
Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Friday expressed anguish over Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge trooping into the Well of the House during an opposition protest, saying it is for the first time that a person occupying the post has engaged in such conduct.
The Rajya Sabha deputy chairman, Harivansh, has dismissed the impeachment notice against Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, calling it an act of impropriety, flawed, and hasty. The notice was signed by 60 opposition members who alleged that Dhankhar was "biased." The deputy chairman ruled that the notice was designed to denigrate constitutional institutions and malign the Vice President, and lacked factual basis. He also criticized the notice as a "misadventure" in "deliberate trivialising and demeaning" the high constitutional office of the Vice President.
West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose has resigned from his post, triggering a political storm in the state ahead of the upcoming assembly elections. The sudden resignation has led to speculation and accusations between the ruling TMC and the BJP.
President Droupadi Murmu has withheld assent to three amendment Bills passed by the West Bengal Assembly, which sought to replace the governor with the chief minister as chancellor of state-run universities.
The report was tabled by Bharatiya Janata Party member Medha Vishram Kulkarni, a member of the panel.
The meeting was held for over an hour, he said.
As vice president and ex-officio chairman of the Rajya Sabha, Jagdeep Dhankar is inheriting a troubled legacy. Although the government faces no real numerical challenges in the Upper House, political and legal challenges are there aplenty.
Top leaders of opposition parties including Congress' Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, TMC's Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Tejashwi Yadav of Rashtriya Janata Dal and Uddhav Thackeray of Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray, besides Left leaders and those from smaller parties, are likely to attend the meeting at the Constitution Club in the national capital.
Opposition MPs in India's Rajya Sabha staged a walkout on Wednesday after being disallowed to seek clarifications on a statement made by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on India-China relations. The minister, who had given an identical statement on the issue in the Lok Sabha a day earlier, addressed the Upper House of Parliament on Wednesday on India-China relations and also talked about the recent disengagement in Ladakh. Soon after his statement, opposition MPs wanted to seek some clarifications on the issue. Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar did not allow it, resulting in an uproar in the House briefly.
Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee, in the eye of a storm over his mimicry of Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on the premises of the Parliament complex, attacked him again claiming that mimicry is a form of expression and a fundamental right.
BJP Rajya Sabha MP Dinesh Sharma has rejected the opposition's move to impeach Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar, calling it an attempt to disrupt House proceedings. Sharma claims there are no valid grounds to impeach Dhankhar, who is also the ex-officio chairman of the Rajya Sabha. The opposition parties submitted a notice to move a motion for removing Dhankhar for allegedly conducting the Upper House in a partisan manner. However, Sharma defended Dhankhar's conduct and asserted that he has been impartial in his role as chairman.
Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar has questioned the lack of an FIR in the case involving the discovery of burnt cash at a Delhi High Court judge's residence, raising concerns about potential immunity from prosecution for certain individuals. He criticized the delay in investigation and the in-house probe by a three-judge panel, highlighting the importance of transparency and the rule of law in addressing such a significant incident.
oved the Supreme Court against a high court decision dismissing its PIL against Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju and Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar for their remarks on judiciary and the collegium system for appointment of judges.
Dhankhar in his letter claimed that the state of governance in the state was 'cliff hanging' and had been further strained by the barbarity witnessed in the Birbhum killings.
It is the primacy of the Constitution that determines the stability, harmony and productivity of democratic governance and Parliament reflecting mandate of the people is the ultimate and exclusive architect of the Constitution, he said.
The complaint said the video was made with an "intention to insult and defame the Vice-President of India, his caste as well as his background of farmer and as a lawyer".
The Rajya Sabha has been witnessing repeated disruptions ever since it met for the Monsoon session on July 20.
Among the Rajya Sabha members who are the new vice-chairpersons are PT Usha, S Phangnon Konyak, Fauzia Khan, Sulata Deo, V Vijaysai Reddy, Ghanshyam Tiwari, L Hanumanthaiah and Sukhendu Sekhar Ray.
Dhankhar expressed his anguish on the conduct of Opposition members and left the House for a while.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has accused the central government of pressuring the outgoing Governor C V Ananda Bose to resign and alleged that his replacement, R N Ravi, is a BJP cadre.
A political row broke out on Tuesday after Trinamool Congress leader Kalyan Banerjee derisively mimicked Dhankhar during the opposition's protest on the stairs of Parliament against the MPs' suspension, drawing strong condemnation from the ruling BJP.
The opposition INDIA bloc leaders are expected to discuss their joint candidate for the post of vice-president at a meeting of floor leaders on Monday morning.
President Droupadi Murmu inspected a guard of honour at the sestercentennial (250th anniversary) celebrations and presented the President's Standard of Bodyguard and Regimental Standard to the President's Bodyguard at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Thursday, November 16, 2023.
Rajya Sabha Chairman and Lok Sabha Speaker reject opposition notices to remove Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, citing insufficient grounds.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday took a dig at Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar's New Delhi visit as she said a 'child can be cajoled into silence' but not an elderly man, noting that she has thrice written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to withdraw him from the state.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's resignation, alleging manipulation of voter lists during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in West Bengal. She also questioned the abrupt resignation of Governor C V Ananda Bose and accused the BJP of anti-women policies and spreading misinformation.
Engineer-turned-philanthropist Sudha Murty on Thursday took oath as Rajya Sabha MP in the presence of her husband N R Narayana Murthy.
Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday said "dangers are emanating from outfits", including some foreign universities, doubling up as centres of subversive anti-India activities out to demolish the country's civilisation ethos and sully and muddy its growth.
While naming him as the NDA candidate for the Vice President's post, the BJP had described him as 'Kisan putra', a move seen in the political circles aimed at reaching out to the politically significant Jat community which had participated in huge numbers in the year-long farmers' protests against agriculture reform measures unveiled in June 2020.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla is likely to announce the formation of an inquiry committee to probe the charges against Allahabad High Court Judge Yashwant Varma. A notice signed by 152 MPs was submitted to Birla on July 21.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah is expected to respond to the debate on the no-confidence motion against Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, following allegations of partisan conduct. The motion, moved by opposition members, questions Birla's impartiality and handling of House proceedings.
He had also said Gandhi's statement was far distanced from his reflections as delegitimising the judiciary is beyond his contemplation.
'The people decide who is a purush, yugpurush and a mahapurush'
Rajya Sabha chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar in his maiden speech in the House on Wednesday criticised the judiciary for scrapping the NJAC bill, terming it as an instance of "severe compromise of parliamentary sovereignty", and said the government's three organs should respect the "Lakshman Rekha".
'Mamata was more feared than loved, and in politics when people start fearing you then they start hating you.' 'So Mamata's comeback now is impossible.'
'Modi's charisma may have weakened as last year's Lok Sabha poll results showed but in the eyes of the Sangh Parivar, it has not waned.' 'Minus a strong BJP government at the Centre for another decade and more, there is apprehension that an anti-Hindutva government could reverse many of the ideological gains that the Modi dispensation has achieved through its three terms,' points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Rajya Sabha proceedings were adjourned for the day on Wednesday afternoon without transacting any business amid uproar by treasury and opposition benches over the no-trust notice against the House Chairman and the George Soros issue.
The 2023-2024 figures showed that the size of the industry, excluding those having an annual turnover of Rs 20 crore, could be Rs 30,652 crore, assuming no tax evasion.
