With just four days left before the curtains come down on the 15th Lok Sabha, sources in the government say that the Congress is left with no option but to pass the bill otherwise they would be at the losing end in both Seema-Andhra and Telangana. Renu Mittal reports.
Setting the stage for confrontation in Parliament, an all-party meeting called in New Delhi on the eve of the monsoon session on Monday ended in a deadlock over controversies related to the Lalit Modi and Vyapam scam even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered to discuss all issues. The government ruled out any resignations.
The Congress seems to have brokered peace with the main Opposition parties on the crucial food security and land acquisition Bills and ensured that they are not dependent on the whims and fancies of smaller parties. Renu mittal reports
Attacking the Congress for its 65 years of "misrule", the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on said it was unthinkable that a national party has to be welcomed as a "regional party" in the Lok Sabha but promised to take the opposition party along in the decision-making process.
The Congress president was angry with Tharoor over the leak of his views against party's stalling tactics in Parliament in the media.
Ahead of Cabinet formation, Narendra Modi, prime minister designate on Monday held discussions with his close aide Amit Shah and senior party leader Arun Jaitley even as newly-elected Bharatiya Janata Party members of Parliament met senior Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh functionaries at the Sangh office.
YSR Congress Party President and Member of Parliament Jagan Mohan Reddy on Monday triggered a new round of political speculations when he praised Gujarat Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.
In a strong show of support for Arun Jaitley, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the finance minister will come through "with flying colours" against charges of corruption levelled against him by the opposition in the same way L K Advani did in the Hawala case.
Union Minister P Chidambaram has opted out of the Lok Sabha election with the party on Thursday night nominating his son Karti from his constituency Sivaganga in Tamil Nadu while another Union Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad was brought as a candidate from Udhampur in Jammu and Kashmir.
With just eight days left for the winter session, Jaitley and Parliamentary Affairs Minster M Venkaiah Naidu held consultations with Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and Deputy Leader Anand Sharma.
Bharatiya Janata Party patriarch L K Advani on Tuesday said he has lived his life according to the "diktats" of his inner voice and indicated that his age notwithstanding, he is in good health and not about to hang his boots.
The Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi met on Tuesday morning to clear the Bill that is likely to come up in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday
Congress is riven by four different approaches to an issue: the Sonia Gandhi way, the Rahul Gandhi method, Lok Sabha MPs' tactic, and Rajya Sabha MPs' style, reports R Rajagopalan.
Consensus building is likely to be the biggest casualty.
The victories with huge margins came as a Diwali gift and a shot in the arm for the nearly six-month-old alliance ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls after facing frequent questions about its longevity.
He is among the contenders for the top job in the event the BJP gets fewer seats in 2019. That may have something to do with him picking up the cudgels for Sushma Swaraj when many in the party kept mum, says Aditi Phadnis.
Parliamentarians, who have been slugging it out for past the few days in Lok Sabha over several issues, were seen mixing freely at a dinner hosted by President Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday night to commemorate three years of his presidency.
'She really doesn't care if she is called heartless.' 'For her, the job needs to be done. That's all that matters.'
In remarks that could fuel a fresh controversy, senior Congress leader Kamal Nath on Sunday said that Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan's decision on the issue of Leader of Opposition in Lower House could be "flavoured" by the Bharatiya Janata Party and Narendra Modi.
Ahead of the assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi is expected to address ten poll meetings to liven up the state poll campaign.
Kumar, who will contest against National Democratic Alliance's Ram Nath Kovind for the post of president, described the presidential poll as a "battle of ideologies" and not a "Dalit versus Dalit" fight as was being out made out by some.
Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday dispelled any impression that he was not enthusiastic about Narendra Modi as Prime Ministerial candidate, saying he has already given his "best wishes" to him after he was appointed the BJP campaign chief for the Lok Sabha elections.
Issues including the Rafale deal, construction of Ram Temple and Cauvery river water caused disruptions in the House.
Time is running out for a hapless UPA govt over the Telangana bill, and the latest observation by the Rajya Sabha secretariat -- that the bill has financial implications and so must be introduced and passed in the Lok Sabha first -- has only worsened the crisis for the ruling alliance. Anita Katyal reports.
"Sushma Swaraj is a great asset to the nation. There is a no allegation at all. Still they want her to resign," he said.
A look at the team behind the Congress' aggressive stance.
To questions whether there will be action against Swaraj or Raje, he said, "The question is imaginary There is no technical and legal base that you can say there is any point of impropriety."
An all party-meeting to discuss legislative business in Parliament's monsoon session on Thursday saw a fierce debate on the issue of Telangana with the Bharatiya Janata Party demanding that a bill be brought on it in this session and some other parties fearing repercussions of the decision in other states.
Jaitley said Modi has never questioned Manmohan Singh's integrity and commitment to the nation.
The Congress party's campaign for resignation of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in Parliament on Wednesday came to a naught as the minister made a spirited defence.
Protests continued to stall the monsoon session of Parliament, as it entered the last week on Monday.
Notwithstanding L K Advani's resignation, BJP President Rajnath Singh made it clear that there will be no going back on the decision to appoint Narendra Modi as campaign committee chief.
'There is one negative thing which has happened very quietly. The position of the election commissioner has been downgraded.'
The year 2015 was a mixed bag for the Grand Old party --with the performance in Bihar being a consolation while the the National Herald case came back to haunt its leadership.
Arrested in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, she was given a clean chit by the National Investigation Agency, but the trial court refused to discharge her from the case.
Reiterating his 'suit-boot ki sarkar' jibe, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday dubbed Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a feku (a brag).
In an unusual advice to Bharatiya Janata Party Members of Parliament, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked his party MPs not to show him respect by touching his feet or greeting other senior leaders by touching their feet.
The theme of the reshuffle is to fulfill Modi's earlier promise of 'maximum governance, minimum government.' Some key ministries are likely to be merged.
Protesting Congress members had on Tuesday too blocked a debate on the bill. The monsoon session ends on Thursday.
Modi, 68, was administered the oath of office and secrecy by President Ram Nath Kovind at a glittering ceremony at the forecourt of majestic Rashtraparti Bhavan.
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