Five-term Lok Sabha Member of Parliament Meira Kumar on Tuesday became the consensus candidate of the ruling United Progressive Alliance and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party for the post of Lok Sabha Speaker. Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee led a UPA delegation to submit Kumar's nomination papers to Lok Sabha Secretary General P D T Achary for the election to the Speaker's post scheduled to be held on Wednesday. Kumar, 64, will be the first woman to head the LS.
Former chief justice of India D Y Chandrachud on Friday said media reports of him being considered for the National Human Rights Commission chairperson's post were 'untrue'.
In the wake of the death of the Delhi gangrape victim, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar on Friday cancelled the visit of an Indian parliamentary delegation led by her to South Africa and her own trip to Namibia to attend a Commonwealth Speakers' conference.
'The most enduring part of Satheesan's personality is he is good at heart. That is the reason why everybody, from the old to small children, get attracted to him.'
Nitish Kumar is poised to lead the NDA government in Bihar, with key political developments unfolding ahead of the swearing-in ceremony. The article covers the election of the NDA leader, cabinet allocation discussions, and reactions to the election results, including Prashant Kishor's claims and the family feud within Lalu Prasad's family.
Several members had moved adjournment motions to raise the issue, but Speaker Meira Kumar said she has not accepted the demand.
Dismissing any threat in wake of plans by some anti-Telangana Lok Sabha MPs, including those from Congress, to bring a no-confidence motion, Union Minister Kamal Nath on Wednesday said the government has the numbers and the general elections will be held in May as per schedule.
'This is how Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar treated the Leader of Opposition,' Swaraj tweeted.
Leaders of various INDIA bloc parties have written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, urging him to allow leaders of the opposition in both Houses of Parliament to speak during the Constitution Day function to be held on Tuesday. The function will be addressed by President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. The letter, signed by leaders of various opposition parties, states that they believe in the best traditions and interests of Parliamentary democracy, the Leaders of Opposition (LoPs) in both Houses should also be given an opportunity to speak on this historic occasion. Parliamenary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, however, said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not be addressing the event and accused "some of the Opposition parties " of giving reactions without knowing the actual arrangement. He added that sitting arrangements have been made for the Leaders of Opposition of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on the dais.
A controversial bill which paves the way for the Polavaram project in Andhra Pradesh by merging some villages and mandals of Telangana with Seemandhra was approved in the Lok Sabha on Friday, amid stiff opposition from the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, the Biju Janata Dal and some other parties.
A section of BJP leaders is of the view that the leadership may spring a surprise with its choice for the post by appointing someone from southern India.
A diplomat-turned-politician, she took the initiative to organise a number of international seminars hosted by Indian Parliament since she took oath as the Speaker on June 3, 2009.
Both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha committees had recommended that their suspension be withdrawn after they expressed regret for their conduct during the Winter session when their relentless protests prompted the Chairs to take action.
President Murmu reached the new Parliament building in a six-horse buggy accompanied by the Presidential Bodyguards riding horses.
Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar rejected the resignations submitted by 13 MPs from Andhra Pradesh, including ten from Congress and two of YSR Congress, against the decision on Telangana, holding these were "not voluntary or genuine". The YSR Congress MPs included party chief Y S Jaganmohan Reddy.
Members from parties, including National Democratic Alliance partner Telugu Desam Party, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Trinamool Congress, continued their protests on various issues.
Former telecom minister A Raja has urged Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar to return the Joint Parliamentary Committee report on the 2G spectrum scandal and resubmit it with his written statement.
Asked whether an all-party meeting will be called to discuss the issue, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar said nothing was scheduled but she will be talking.
National Democratic Alliance convenor Sharad Yadav on Thursday took a swipe at Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar claiming she was more "affectionate" towards the Treasury Benches, but showed little mercy towards the Opposition.
A US military aircraft carrying 104 illegal Indian immigrants landed in Amritsar on Wednesday, the first such batch of Indians deported by the Donald Trump government as part of a crackdown against illegal immigrants.
'If the BJP had its way, it would sideline him in favour of someone else. But that's not feasible. There is no vote catcher in Bihar for the BJP.'
Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar has ruled out her resignation from Congress as suggested by her predecessor Somnath Chatterjee. "There is no convention that the Speaker should resign from the primary membership of his or her party. I will function with the same impartiality towards Congress and the other parties in the Lok Sabha," she said.
Reflecting escalation of confrontation with the government, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday decided to boycott meetings to be called by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath or Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar as it accused Congress President Sonia Gandhi of not allowing the opposition to air their views in Parliament.
According to sources, several opposition leaders are also considering boycotting the inaugural function on Sunday, alleging that the government has insulted the President.
Members in the Lok Sabha on Thursday expressed grave concern over hate crimes against Indians in the United States, with opposition parties questioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "silence" on the matter and the government saying it was being "viewed seriously".
Breaking her silence on the 'cash-for-query' allegation against Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, party chief Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said that plans were in the works to expel her from Parliament but any such action would help the lawmaker from Krishnanagar ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The petition sought setting aside speaker's June 14 circular showing the name of Paras as leader of Jan Lokshakti Party in the Lok Sabha.
Ahead of the Winter session of Parliament beginning on December 4, the Congress' Lok Sabha leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Saturday wrote to Speaker Om Birla, saying the expulsion of Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra from Parliament is an 'extremely serious punishment and has very wide ramifications'.
"There are double standards with which the House is being run. There is a disregard of the Opposition," Malhotra said.
With Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar meeting leaders of political parties in Delhi on Thursday -- a routine drill before commencement of a month-long Lok Sabha session -- hectic political activities have begun behind the scenes.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said that the President should inaugurate the new Parliament building and not the prime minister.
Kodikunnil Suresh, the Opposition's pick for the Lok Sabha speaker who will go up against the Bharatiya Janata Party's Om Birla, is a Congress veteran, an eight-term MP and one whose election in 2009 was declared invalid by the Kerala high court before being restored by the Supreme Court.
The issue of resignation by Congress MPs from Seemandhra continues to hang fire. Their meeting with Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, which was scheduled for Tuesday, has been delayed further.
Against the backdrop of the opposition's demand for his removal, Joint Parliamentary Committee Chairman P C Chacko on Friday met Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar to explain his position on the issues concerning the controversial draft report on 2G scam. There were indications that the meeting of the JPC, which was cancelled on Thursday because of the death of a Lok Sabha member, could take place on May 2 or May 3 to adopt the report.
Almost a fortnight after former bureaucrat K P Ramaiah took voluntary retirement from the Indian Administrative Service, he is ready to take on Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, a former Indian Foreign Service officer, in the Lok Sabha polls from the Sasaram seat in Bihar.
The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has urged Muslims to wear a black armband on their right hand during Juma prayers on the last Friday of Ramzan as a mark of protest against the Waqf (Amendment) Bill. The AIMPLB has been vocal in its opposition to the Bill, calling it "controversial, discriminatory and damaging." The organization has planned nationwide protests against the Bill, with large sit-ins scheduled in several cities.
What may work for the BJP is the growing resentment against V K Pandian, a bureaucrat-turned-politician who Jay Panda alleges has hijacked the Odisha government.
Daughter of former deputy PM late Jagjivan Ram, Kumar, 72, was also the first woman to occupy the high office of the LS speaker
Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar's secretary A P Pathak was on Friday removed from his post shortly after the Central Bureau of Investigtion searched his premises in an alleged disproportionate assets case during which the agency claimed to have recovered documents of properties worth crores of rupees.
Union Minister M K Alagiri will no longer have to fight shy of Parliament on the ground that he is not well-versed in English or Hindi.
