L Murugan, 44, is the only newly-sworn minister who is not a member of Rajya Sabha or Lok Sabha.
Several legislators in states on Monday said they have cross-voted in favour of National Democratic Alliance nominee Droupadi Murmu by not following their respective party lines in the presidential election.
Among the keenly watched contests are those involving former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav (Kannauj, UP) and Union ministers Giriraj Singh (Begusarai, Bihar), Nityanand Rai (Ujiarpur, Bihar) and Raosaheb Danve (Jalna, Maharashtra).
The marathon polling process to elect the 18th Lok Sabha ended on Saturday with the seventh phase of elections witnessing an approximate voter turnout of 62.36 per cent, amid clashes between Trinamool Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party supporters in Sandeshkhali and some other parts of West Bengal.
The income-tax department has detected "unaccounted" transactions and investments worth more than Rs 100 crore after it raided two Jharkhand Congress MLAs, their alleged associates and linked coal and iron ore businesses across the state last week.
Oraon confided he had learnt that proper education could be helpful in every aspect of life, from running a good administration to doing social work or looking after one's family.
A week after assuming power in Karnataka, the Congress on Friday released the list of 24 legislators who will be sworn-in as ministers to fill up all the vacant ministerial positions.
The objection comes against the backdrop of strong rumours and the Bharatiya Janata Party claim that Hemant Soren's wife Kalpana will be the first choice for the chief minister's post in case her husband was arrested.
While the BJP and the Congress have always supported the bill, opposition by other parties and demands from some for quota for backward classes within the women's quota have been key sticking points.
The BJP's top leadership will drop its MPs found to be facing anti-incumbency, according to its internal surveys -- a pivotal tactic to ensure the party achieves its target of winning 370 seats.
The Maoist-infested state needs a visionary leader and Hemant Soren is definitely not one, opines Aditi Phadnis
The minister emphasised the need for people to take precaution dose of COVID-19 vaccine amid a surge in COVID-19 cases in some parts of the world, especially in China.
The announcement of Murmu's candidature by BJP president J P Nadda came a day after she celebrated her 64th birthday.
'Leave aside the negative fallouts of phraseology like 'urban Naxals' and 'terrorists', both the BJP and the Congress have to re-discover themselves in the context of the 2024 election results, including those of the upcoming ones for Maharashtra and Jharkhand,' observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
For now, Modi's government appears singularly focussed on demonstrating that it is not in any way inhibited by the BJP's loss of a majority, and will continue along its patented path of bulldozing all opposition and doing just as it likes, asserts Prem Panicker.
Murmu's vote share is now likely to go past 61 per cent, while it was earlier estimated to be around 50 per cent at the time of her nomination.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress on Sunday were set to share the honours in the Lok Sabha and assembly bye-elections in 13 states.
'Congress leaders are ready to lose the election and not form the government, but are never ready to share seats with others.'
Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu Soren will have to face a united and determined Opposition when he decides to contest a by-election to become a member of the Legislative Assembly, as all Opposition parties have decided to put up a consensus candidate against him, Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee president Pradip Kumar Balmuchu said on Monday.In order to retain the chief ministership, Soren must be elected to the assembly as a Member of Legislative Assembly.
A Lok Sabha member, Soren secured 42 votes in his favour against 34 after a day long debate on the trust vote moved by officiating parliamentary affairs minister Stephen Marandi. In all 76 members participated in the voting.
'When honest, wealthy people come forward to serve India, people should feel proud and welcome them.'
Their leader and assembly speaker has convened the House on Monday.
The 17th Lok Sabha, which was dissolved on June 5, did not have a deputy speaker for its full term, and it was the second consecutive term of the lower house without an LoP.
Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav on Wednesday claimed the support of 43 legislators in the 82-member Jharkhand Assembly and asserted that the United Progressive Alliance will provide a stable government.
With the Biju Janata Dal backing the National Democratic Alliance's presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu, the vote share of the ruling dispensation has now crossed 50 percent, virtually paving the way for her election as the first tribal President and the youngest too.
Asserting that her government has zero tolerance to incidents of rape, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said an amendment to existing laws will be passed in the state assembly next week to ensure capital punishment to convicted rapists.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday assured the country that the beginning of building a "new and developed Kashmir" that will be free from terrorism has been made under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that full statehood would be restored to Jammu and Kashmir at an appropriate time.
Counting of votes for the bypolls in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Tripura, Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand will be taken up on Sunday.
Besides the national capital, polling will be held Saturday in 14 seats in Uttar Pradesh, all 10 seats of Haryana, eight seats each in Bihar and West Bengal, six seats in Odisha, four seats in Jharkhand and one seat in Jammu and Kashmir. Simultaneously, polling will be held for 42 assembly constituencies in Odisha.
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha Legislative Party leader Hemant Soren on Thursday submitted his resignation letter as an MLA to his father Shibu Soren and offered his Dumka seat to the Jharkhand chief minister to contest and enter the state assembly.
As per a letter sent to the MLAs by the assembly secretariat, the chief minister has expressed his willingness to move a motion of confidence to prove his majority.
Exigencies of electoral politics and individual ambitions often stoke family feuds and sibling rivalries.
Counting of votes will be held today in Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand which witnessed a record turnout in the multi-cornered contests to elect their assemblies.
"Between 1990 and 2005, only 95,000 people were given jobs. In our administration, over 6 lakh jobs were given and besides this many others were enrolled in other services," Nitish Kumar said.
The Central Bureau of Investigation carried out searches at the residences of five Members of Legislative Assembly of Jharkhand after registering a case into the alleged cash-for-vote scam during 2010 Rajya Sabha elections.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday conducted raids at the premises of 15 Jharkhand members of Legislative Assembly as part of its investigation into the allegations of horse-trading that led to countermanding of the March 30 Rajya Sabha polls.
Although the back-fence talk was that the AJSU would return to the BJP if the Jharkhand verdict was inconclusive, the AJSU's Deosharan Bhagat rejected the hearsay. 'Jharkhand was born out of a long agitation and we were one of the agitators. We won't allow people's hopes to die with short-term compromises. Our slogan is our rule, our government,' he said. Another Sena and Mahato as another Uddhav Thackeray, asks Radhika Ramaseshan.
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.
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