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.
The 83-year-old former Union minister emphasised his status as an undefeated politician since he became an MLA in 1967 at the age of 27 and said, "I have my own experiences."
Parliament officials said Birla was upset at the behaviour of both the Opposition and Treasury benches during the passage of bills in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
With no clarity on the Congress getting the Leader of Opposition status in Lok Sabha, senior leader Kamal Nath threatened action against the Speaker.
Rahul Gandhi said both Rae Bareli and Wayanad "will get two MPs".
The inauguration new parliament building will take place in two phases.
Prasun Banerjee and Jawhar Sircar represented TMC in the meeting, which discussed the Opposition strategy on Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from the Parliament.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday assured his government will continue the Ladki Bahin Yojana and fulfil Mahayuti's pre-poll promise of hiking the monthly stipend under the scheme to Rs 2,100 from Rs 1,500 now to eligible women.
The senior Paswan sought an appointment and waited for more than three months but Rahul Gandhi did not relent, said Chirag Paswan, who at that time too was keen to leave the UPA and join the National Democratic Alliance.
Chowdhury, the leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha, was suspended on Thursday for allegedly attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi and disturbing the ministers.
According to the sources, the meeting will be held at 10 am on Thursday in the chamber of Rajya Sabha LoP.
Charan Das Mahant, who is one of the star campaigners of the party, sparked controversy at a public rally in Rajnandgaon on Tuesday when he stated that they needed someone who could hold a stick and confront Modi.
Is it is necessary to play divisive politics to succeed in the next general elections? asks Dr Sudhir Bisht.
A day after making a strong pitch for her party being given the post of Leader of Opposition, Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday held a meeting with party members of Parliament in Lok Sabha.
'If the Congress is to challenge the NDA government, Rahul Gandhi will have to shed his indifference to Parliament, become more visible and vocal and, essentially, lead from the front,' says Rediff.com contributor Anita Katyal.
Armed with a list of issues to target the Narendra Modi government in the forthcoming Budget session of Parliament, the Congress is making one last attempt to gain the leader of opposition status.
The Centre on Wednesday told the Delhi high court that there is nothing illegal or irrational in the Lok Sabha Speaker not appointing a Leader of Opposition and dismissed as "complete myth" that this post traditionally existed.
Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Saturday steered clear of the issue of grant of Leader of Opposition status in the House to the Congress despite the party appearing to raise the pitch for it.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said his party was fighting the 'Bharatiya Janata Party, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Indian state itself', triggering a row with the BJP alleging that everything the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha does or says is in the direction of breaking India and dividing the society.
Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Friday remained non-committal on the issue of granting Leader of the Opposition status to Congress which does not have requisite numbers.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the verdict is a victory of democracy.
Reacting to the results, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said that in the by-elections held on 13 seats in seven states, the people of the country have given their support to the INDIA bloc.
With Congress raising the pitch on the issue of Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Speaker Sumitra Mahajan on Monday said she was ready to discuss the issue with the party if approached.
Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan has said she will take a decision on the issue of Leader of Opposition within the next four days after going through the rules and Attorney General Mukul Rohtagi's letter on the matter.
The Congress on Friday hit out at the Election Commission after it rejected allegations over irregularities in the Haryana assembly polls, saying if the poll panel's goal is to 'strip itself of the last vestiges of neutrality', then it is doing a 'remarkable job' at creating that impression.
The Modi wave has blotched the Congress party's copybook. For the first time since the Lok Sabha was constituted in 1952, the party has failed to secure enough seats to be designated as a parliamentary party, notes A Surya Prakash.
In bad news for Congress, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi has opined that the party has no case for claiming the Leader of Opposition post, saying there is no precedent since the days of the first Lok Sabha when Jawaharlal Nehru was the Prime Minister.
Stalin, in an interview to a daily, has refuted the FM's allegations, saying "everyone present in the Assembly knew it was a drama enacted by herself," referring to the late Jayalalithaa.
Else, warns rebel party MLA, the RJD will split.
Mapanna Mallikarjun Kharge, a staunch Gandhi family loyalist from Karnataka, has become the Congress' first non-Gandhi president in 24 years.
Upping the ante on the Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition issue, Congress and its allies on Monday said they will write to Speaker Sumitra Mahajan seeking an immediate decision in the matter.
The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance were ranged against each other both inside and outside the Parliament on the opening day of the budget session on Monday.
"I condemn is the strongest terms the statement he has made about Sikhs not being able to wear turbans and kadas," the BJP leader from the Sikh community said.
About 140 people out of 193 who were admitted to various government medical facilities after they consumed the spurious liquor on Tuesday night were currently stable, Kallakurichi district collector M S Prasanth said.
The Lokpal can't be appointed in the current scenario as amendments regarding the definition of the Leader of Opposition in the Lokpal Act was pending in Parliament, AG said.
Rohatgi was made attorney general in June. In the past 2 months, his rulings have raised eyebrows for being in line with the political alignment of the government. Kavita Chowdhury reports
Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday met President Pranab Mukherjee in the backdrop of the UPA pitching for Leader of Opposition status for her party in Lok Sabha.
The move assumes significance as the government decided to go ahead with the formation of the search committee despite Congress leader in Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, boycotting meetings of the Lokpal selection panel.
Days ahead of the retirement of present Central Bureau of Investigation chief, government introduced a bill in Lok Sabha to include the leader of the largest opposition party in the panel to select the head of the agency in the absence of a recognised Leader of the Opposition in the House.
Addressing a joint press conference of opposition leaders at the Constitution Club after a 'Tiranga March' from Parliament House to Vijay Chowk, he said the government's intention was to get the Budget Session washed out.
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