The ruling front and the opposition members are at loggerheads over the Adani issue and the disqualification of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi from the Lower House.
The government is yet to set up a Joint Parliamentary Committee to look into the issues of farmers' suicides despite eight months having been passed since this proposal was agreed to in Parliament.
Parliament remained paralysed for the sixth day in a row on Monday due to protests from rival sides.
The agitational programmes include the 'Loktantra Bachao Mashal Shanti March' starting from Red Fort on Tuesday and a series of press conferences in 35 major cities across the country on March 28 and 29.
Parliamentary reporting is likely to come to a grinding halt, as the policy on recruitment and promotions is stalled by the Lok Sabha secretariat
Both factions of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind (Arshad Madani and Mahmood Madani) slammed the Bill and expressed grave concerns over the proposed legislation.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray chief Uddhav Thackeray on Friday said he will back any candidate announced by the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar as Maha Vikas Aghadi's chief ministerial face.
Pawar said some programmes have been decided for the unity of the alliance.
The meeting is believed to be called to chalk out the strategy of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha on Monday.
However, BJP members claimed that the opposition members were abusing the chairman of the committee Jagadambika Pal.
Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel asked why the prime minister and Centre were scared of ordering a probe into the fraud committed by the Adani Group.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar on Tuesday said although his outfit does not agree with the demand of anti-Bharatiya Janata Party outfits for a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into allegations against the Adani group, it will not go against their stand for the sake of Opposition unity.
The Joint Parliamentary Committee on Wednesday tabled its report in the Lok Sabha on pesticide residues and safety standards for soft drinks, fruit juices and other beverages.
The Indian Parliament will introduce a constitutional amendment bill on Tuesday that seeks to hold Lok Sabha and state assembly elections simultaneously. The bill, popularly known as "one nation, one election", will be introduced by Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal and is likely to be referred to a joint committee of both houses for wider consultations. The bill also aims to align elections in the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, Puducherry, and the NCT of Delhi. The move has been met with mixed reactions, with some supporting the idea of reducing election-related expenses and others expressing concerns about its impact on democratic processes.
Pawar posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, pictures of him and Adani cutting a ribbon of the factory.
Only in the event of the RSS managing to force Modi into accepting a consensual candidate, will the party not continue to 'being' the 'next Congress', observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Joint Parliamentary Committee chairman P C Chacko on Tuesday hit out at BJP leader Yashwant Sinha for writing to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asking him to appear before the panel examining the 2G spectrum scam, dubbing it as a "political stunt" and against established "norms".
Government representatives told a parliamentary panel that the US has not officially conveyed to India that it should cut tariffs by April 2.
Slamming the leakage of the draft Joint Parliamentary Committee report on 2G scam as a "gross breach of Parliamentary propriety", the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday said its contents appeared like Congress documents where attempts have been made to save its leaders including the Prime Minister.
Joint Parliamentary Committee Chairman P C Chacko on Wednesday rejected Bharatiya Janata Party leader Yashwant Sinha's demand for Prime Minister Minister Manmohan Singh's appearance before the panel probing the 2G issue, saying the committee has "passed that phase".
Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh said they will pose three questions a day to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the issue.
On March 13, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary had tabled the second batch of supplementary demands for grants in the House amounting to a total of Rs 2,70,508.89 crore.
A leading Catholic Church daily in Kerala has described the Waqf amendment bill as a crucial test of secularism in Parliament, urging MPs to support it. The editorial in Deepika daily comes as the union government prepares to table the bill for parliamentary consideration. The editorial calls the bill a test of secularism and warns MPs that failing to support it would mark them in history as endorsing religious fundamentalism. The paper added that the bill will also put an end to the injustices faced by thousands of Hindu, Christian, and Muslim citizens who have suffered due to the Waqf law. The editorial also recalled the recent statement addressed to Kerala MPs by Kerala Catholic Bishops' Council (KCBC) where the KCBC President Cardinal Mar Baselios Cleemis Catholicos urged amending provisions in the Waqf law that validate claims over land which people of Munambam have lawfully possessed. Opposition parties have slammed the bill as "unconstitutional" and against the interest of the Muslim community.
Ahead of its rally in Delhi on Wednesday against corruption, the National Democratic Alliance on Tuesday remained firm on its demand for a joint parliamentary committee probe into the 2G spectrum scam and asked the government to give up its 'adamant' stand on it as the parliamentary accounts committee has 'limited powers'.NDA convener Sharad Yadav also downplayed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's offer to appear before the PAC.
Paswan said he was willing to contest the upcoming Bihar assembly polls as an NDA partner "if the BJP so desires", and made light of estranged uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras' recent meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
The Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray on Saturday said Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar not favouring formation of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe allegations against the Adani group will not lead to cracks in opposition unity.
The Upper House was earlier adjourned twice in the afternoon session when it took up the discussion on the Budget after Prime Minister Narendra Modi finished his speech on the motion of thanks on the President's address and the motion was passed.
Citing former telecom minister A Raja's communication to the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the 2G scam, Bharatiya Janata Party member Yashwant Sinha on Monday wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, asking him to appear before the committee, following the allegations levelled against him. In his letter, Sinha said any hesitation on the PM's part to appear before the JPC will prove that he has "something to hide".
Adani Group's market capitalisation on Wednesday regained $200 billion-mark (Rs 16.9 lakh crore) after its listed firms gained Rs 11,300 crore as investors reposed faith on the company denying any wrongdoing in supply of coal to Tamil Nadu power company. With Rs 11,300 crore gain on Wednesday, the apples-to-airport conglomerate gained Rs 56,250 crore in market capitalisation in the last two trading sessions, stock exchange data showed.
Joint parliamentary committee Chairman P C Chacko on Tuesday said the committee, probing the 2G telecom spectrum allocation scam, has called all important witnesses but is yet to take a decision on calling former Telecom Minister A Raja before it.
'They want to snatch the land and give it to their friends'
A legislation aimed at preventing sexual harassment of women at the workplace was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, amid the daily pandemonium over the opposition's demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee to probe the 2G scam, before the House was adjourned for the 18th day running without conducting any business.
Parliament was shut down for the 11th day running on Thursday without transacting any substantive business, costing the taxpayer a staggering sum of Rs 85.80 crore as expenditure on each day of the session is calculated at Rs 7.8 crore.
DMK leader T R Baalu said he had given a notice of breach of parliamentary privilege against Chacko over the leakage of the JPC draft report.
A former TRAI chief, who appeared before a Parliamentary panel today, rejected suggestions that private telecom players benefitted from his decisions.
The government on Friday said it was not averse to a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe on the Italian VVIP helicopter deal, a move seen as an attempt to ensure a smooth budget session of Parliament commencing next week.
The Joint Parliamentary Committee, probing the 2G telecom spectrum allocation scam, is unlikely to call former Telecom Minister A Raja as a witness before it.
Rejecting Opposition demand for removal of P C Chacko as Joint Parliamentary Committee chairman, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar on Thursday asked the panel chief and members to work out an agreeable solution to end the current "impasse" on its report on 2G Spectrum.
Fifteen opposition members of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on 2G spectrum scam on Wednesday wrote to the committee secretariat rejecting the panel's draft report in toto, setting the stage for worsening of the confrontation with the government on the issue. The 15 members, who had met Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar last week to express "no-confidence" in panel chief P C Chacko, wrote separate letters stating that they are rejecting the report "in toto".
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance on Saturday demanded to know how the Joint Parliamentary Committee's draft report on 2G spectrum allocation issue had exonerated Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P Chidambaram without examining them and appealed to all members of the committee to reject the document.