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 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.
"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.
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.
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.
Mapanna Mallikarjun Kharge, a staunch Gandhi family loyalist from Karnataka, has become the Congress' first non-Gandhi president in 24 years.
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.
Else, warns rebel party MLA, the RJD will split.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
'There is one negative thing which has happened very quietly. The position of the election commissioner has been downgraded.'
The government is examining the Supreme Court's verdict on the appointment of chief election commissioner (CEC) and election commissioners and it will take "appropriate action" on it, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Thursday.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge used poetry and humour to take swipes at the government on Monday, saying nothing will be accomplished by changing names, and went on to recall how first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru's 'inclusive' approach of involving opposition parties had led to the laying of a strong foundation for the Constitution.
The leader of the largest opposition party in Lok Sabha will be included in a panel to select the chairperson and members of Lokpal under the amended law, governing the functioning of the anti-corruption body, approved by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday.
With the all-party meetings called by Rajya Sabha Chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla producing no breakthrough to end the deadlock in Parliament, Union ministers Piyush Goyal and Pralhad Joshi accused opposition parties of repeatedly 'insulting' Dhankhar.
The Congress on Thursday objected to Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar deleting some portions of Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge's speech from official records, saying he used no unparliamentary words and some of the expressions he employed were earlier used even by former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Justice Ghose, who retired from the Supreme Court in May 2017, is a member of the National Human Rights Commission.
Among the parties that boycotted the proceedings of the House included the Congress, which was the among the first to walkout, followed by members of the CPI-M, CPI, TMC, NCP, SP, Shiv Sena, RJD, DMK, TRS and AAP.
Several opposition leaders on Sunday criticised the bill on the appointment and service conditions of the chief election commissioner and election commissioners at an all-party meeting as "anti-Constitution" and "anti-democratic", sources said.
The BJP is faced with the crucial question of who will lead the party in the four impending state polls this year: In Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Telangana.
There appears to be a surprising reaction from the Supreme Court on the actions, activities and decisions of the Narendra Modi government.
Justices Dilip B Bhosale, Pradip Kumar Mohanty, Abhilasha Kumari and Ajay Kumar Tripathi have been appointed as judicial members in the anti-corruption ombudsman.
Kharge shoots off another letter to the prime minister.
It looks like he struck an instant chord with the people, with the voters rewarding the Congress with a comfortable majority of 136 seats in the 224 member Karnataka Legislative Assembly for which elections were held on May 10, and the votes counted on Saturday.
Marking a vertical split in the Nationalist Congress Party, its senior leader Ajit Pawar joined the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government as deputy chief minister on Sunday.
People are unhappy with the performance of Narendra Modi government at the Centre during its first 100 days as it has failed to keep its promises on rising prices and inflation, the Nationalist Congress Party said on Saturday.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Monday made a strong pitch for the party being given the post of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha contending that it is the single largest party in the opposition.
For the bribe takers, the bill proposes to increase the punishment to a minimum of three years of imprisonment, which may extend to seven years, besides fine.
The government on Monday slammed Congress leader Kamal Nath for his remarks that Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan's decision on the issue of grant of Leader of Opposition status could be "flavoured" by BJP, saying it is "unfortunate" as the Speaker is above party lines.
Marandi returned to the BJP after 14 years and the party now wants him to lead the state unit. But a generation of new leaders isn't familiar with him, explains Radhika Ramaseshan.
It seems the Congress party's act of bravado in opposing the ordinance on Nripendra Misra witnessed in the Lok Sabha on Friday may prove to be just that: an act. Rediff.com contributor Anita Katyal reports.
Congress on Wednesday said that it was open for discussions on the GST Bill on which it has "very genuine concerns".
Citing overlapping of functions, a parliamentary committee on Monday recommended integrating Central Vigilance Commission and anti-corruption wing of the Central Bureau of Investigation to work directly under the command and control of Lokpal to deal with corruption cases.
Earlier, there were speculations that the party may nominate Pankaja Munde, the daughter of late BJP leader Gopinath Munde, for the MLC polls, to be held on June 20.
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