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A constitutional amendment bill for holding Lok Sabha and assembly elections simultaneously is likely to be introduced in Parliament on Tuesday and could be referred to a joint committee of the two Houses.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday hosted dinner for outgoing President Ram Nath Kovind in New Delhi with members of the Union Cabinet, chief ministers of various states and other dignitaries attending it.
Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi raised the issue of irregularities in NEET soon after the Lok Sabha assembled for the day, prompting Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to assert that a separate discussion cannot be held till the House finishes with the motion of thanks on the president's address.
Maharashtra's cyber police have registered a case against popular YouTuber Dhruv Rathee after a parody account allegedly posted a fake message on X about Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla's daughter, a senior official said on Saturday.
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.
Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse-Patil on Tuesday denied Independent MP Navneet Rana's accusation that she was ill-treated in the police custody after her and her husband's arrest on Saturday.
Trinamool Congress leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay announced that the opposition parties will meet at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's residence on Thursday morning to discuss the issue.
Criticising the move, the opposition led by the Congress said that Question Hour is the 'golden hour of the House'. Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, said the argument and rationale that has been put forth by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi is far from convincing.
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.
"A person cannot be punished twice for the same offence," a committee member said, adding that even BJP members took a "soft view" of the issue and were in favour of revocation of Chowdhury's suspension.
Bharatiya Janata Party MP Nishikant Dubey said on Saturday the Lok Sabha Speaker should also probe the 'unsavoury' conduct and remarks of Danish Ali, who was recently at the receiving end of ruling party member Ramesh Bidhuri's derogatory words in the House.
The bill was introduced following a division of votes, with 186 members supporting and 74 opposing it.
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.
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 President was getting very tired by the end... she could hardly speak, poor thing," Sonia Gandhi, the former Congress chief, was heard saying in clips in what appeared to be a reference to how long the address was.
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.
Chandrapuram Ponnusamy Radhakrishnan was sworn in as the 15th Vice President of India, succeeding Jagdeep Dhankhar.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman introduced the Income Tax Bill, 2025, in the Lok Sabha on Thursday and urged Speaker Om Birla to refer it to a select committee of the House. Opposition members opposed the Bill at the introduction stage but the House passed a motion by voice vote for its introduction.
Congress MPs on Thursday met the LoK Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha chairman M Venkaiah Naidu and raised the issue of alleged ill-treatment of party lawmakers, including some women, by the Delhi police during their protests in the national capital against Rahul Gandhi's questioning by the Enforcement Directorate.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena has sacked Sanjay Raut as the leader of its parliamentary party and appointed Lok Sabha MP Gajanan Kirtikar as his successor.
Taking to Twitter, AAP's Sanjay Singh shared a video of leaders greeting President Kovind at the farewell ceremony in the Central Hall of Parliament.
BJP sources said the party has sought a reply from the South Delhi MP for his use of unparliamentary words.
Sensitive issues remain. Water sharing of the Ganga and Teesta rivers. Treatment of minorities, particularly Hindus. Border management. Trade imbalances. Connectivity projects.What happens next will shape not just bilateral ties, but the balance of South Asia itself, points out Ramesh Menon.
Opposition parties have agreed to the agenda of taking up a special discussion on the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor on Monday in Lok Sabha and the next day in Rajya Sabha, brightening up the prospect of normalcy returning to Parliament after the virtual washout of first-week proceedings.
Birla said that two-three places are being explored by the government for the venue of the proposed building. He said the new Parliament will have various technological features.
The poll is witnessing a direct contest between ruling NDA nominee C P Radhakrishnan and joint opposition candidate B Sudershan Reddy, with the BJP-led alliance having a clear edge in the poll necessitated due to the sudden resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Thursday advised all the MPs to wear masks and follow the Covid protocol completely, in view of the increasing cases of COVID-19 in many countries across the world.
MPs from 10 Opposition parties on Thursday wrote a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla saying that the situation at Ghazipur border was like that of India-Pakistan border and condition of farmers resembles prisoners in jail.
Speaker Om Birla on Thursday drew praise from Lok Sabha members for identifying potential of members and encouraging them to speak on the floor of the House after a first-time woman MP, known for spearheading self-help groups, raised the issue of women unemployment.
On Thursday, April 7, 2022, the Lok Sabha was adjourned sine die. MPs from the Treasury and Opposition benches met thereafter in the Speaker's chambers for an exercise in enforced bon homie.
In separate letters to the speaker, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Supriya Sule of the NCP, DMK leader Kanimozhi and TMC's Aparupa Poddar said what had happened with Ali is unfortunate and that action should be taken against Bidhuri.
The Pal-led committee is currently on a tour of five states to speak to various stakeholders though opposition members have boycotted it.
Manipur MP A Bimol Akoijam has alleged that his questions about agreements the government has signed with insurgent groups in the northeastern states were removed from the list of starred questions scheduled for March 11, 2025. Akoijam, a Congress leader, claims this is a "serious infringement" on his rights as an elected Member of Parliament and undermines his legislative oversight function. He says he has met with the Speaker and the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs to raise the issue.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla is expected to name the committee's chairperson soon.
Dressed in colourful attire, members of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday got their group photograph clicked in the old Parliament building, hours before legislative proceedings shift to the new Parliament House.
'It is a crisis of BJP's own doing. This is an in-house fire.'
Ali also shared the screenshot of a purported hate message in Hindi referring to the derogatory remarks made by Bidhuri.
"There are six MPs in our party. It was the desire of five MPs to save our party. So, I have not broken the party. I have saved it. Chirag Paswan is my nephew as well as the party's national president. I have no objection against him," Paras told the media. Paras has been elected as the new leader of the Parliamentary party, who is currently representing the Hajipur Lok Sabha seat in Bihar.
Kharge was elected Congress president, defeating Shashi Tharoor in an electoral contest, the sixth in the party's 137-year-old history.
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