The session of Rajya Sabha came to an end on Friday after passing 12 bills and wasting 19 hours due to disruptions over various issues like imposition of President's rule in Uttarakhand and AgustaWestland helicopter deal controversy.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sumitra Mahajan will be appointed Speaker of the 16th Lok Sabha on Friday. Other key parliamentary posts like that of Leader of Opposition, deputy Speaker, chairman of the Public Accounts Committee and head of the all-important standing committee on finance will be keenly contested.
Parliament on Wednesday passed the crucial Lokpal Bill with the Lok Sabha adopting the measure as amended by the Rajya Sabha after a short discussion, amid the din created by pro- and anti-Telangana members.
The bill was passed with 165 voting in favour and 7 against it.
The Monsoon session of Parliament concluded after facing disruptions and protests over the revision of electoral rolls in Bihar. Despite the disruptions, the government managed to pass key legislations.
Lok Sabha is set to witness a confrontation over Land Acquisition Bill on Tuesday when it is taken up for voting with opposition bent on opposing it even as the government again offered to make changes in the legislation in the "larger interest" of the farming community.
The last rites of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who died in a plane crash, were held with full state honors in Baramati. Prominent leaders and thousands of mourners attended the funeral.
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.
The controversial Land Ordinance was tabled in the Lok Sabha on Monday by Union Minister of State for Skill Development Rajiv Pratap Rudy.
The stage is set for a direct contest between NDA nominee C P Radhakrishnan and joint opposition candidate B Sudershan Reddy for the September 9 vice-presidential election. Nominations have been scrutinized and accepted.
The ruling alliance and the Opposition are set to lock horns over the two issues steeped in national security and foreign policy imperatives.
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor is urging the Indian government to take a more proactive role in mediating the escalating conflict between the US-Israel alliance and Iran, emphasising the impact on India's energy security and regional stability.
As per the rules and regulations, members must not do anything that brings disrepute to the Parliament and affects their credibility, and members must utilise their position as Members of Parliament to advance general well-being of the people.
The deadline for withdrawal of nominations ended on Friday afternoon.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a strong attack on the Congress party, accusing them of being unable to accept their repeated electoral defeats and highlighting the achievements of his government.
The effective strength of both the Houses together is 786 and the winning candidate will require 394 votes, considering that all eligible voters exercise their franchise.
The proceedings were washed out over various issues including the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill and roster system for reservation in educational institutions.
The law minister said 20 Muslim countries in the world, including Pakistan and Malaysia, have banned the triple talaq. "Why can't a secular India do it?" he asked.
Rishi Sunak, who seems to be on an extended holiday in India -- we spotted the former UK PM at the Jaipur Lit Fest and at the fourth T20I at the Wankhede late January -- was at Lok Kalyan Marg on Tuesday.
The issue of missing files relating to coalgate paralysed proceedings in Parliament on Tuesday with the Bharatiya Janata Party demanding an immediate response from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, even as the government said it will leave no stone unturned in tracing the documents.
The government also took note of pending cases in various high courts and said that 1.66 lakh cases relating to sexual assaults were pending across the country at several stages.
Acrimonious scenes were on Monday witnessed in the Rajya Sabha as members from the Bharatiya Janata Party, Lok Janshakti Party and Nationalist Congress Party clashed over the issue of reported low Muslim representation in admissions to private schools in Delhi. The sharp exchanges during Zero Hour also led to a heated argument between Ram Vilas Paswan, who raised the issue and BJP members, who alleged that Paswan was casting aspersions on P J Kurien (in the Chair).
While the proposed law will remain "non-bailable'', the accused can approach a magistrate even before trial to seek bail.
The ruling NDA is expected to win the upcoming election for the post of Vice President of India, following the resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar.
Parliament is expected to discuss the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor next week, with both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha planning debates.
A Trinamool Congress delegation on Friday alleged before the Election Commission top brass that around 40 SIR-related deaths had occurred in West Bengal so far, a charge junked by the poll authority.
The Andhra Pradesh Intelligence Bureau has warned of possible trouble in case the passage of the Bill is delayed on Thursday. The current session of Parliament ends on Friday.
The Parliament was rocked by Telangana issue again on Monday, prompting Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar to take the unprecedented step of suspending nine members from Andhra Pradesh for five days, the second time in the same session.
Sunetra Pawar, wife of late NCP leader Ajit Pawar, was sworn in as Maharashtra's first woman deputy Chief Minister after being elected as the leader of the NCP legislature wing.
Notwithstanding vociferous opposition, the government is expected to table the Telangana bill in Lok Sabha on Thursday.
After a 6.5-hour debate, the upper house clears the bill. Amit Shah said the bill is not anti-Muslim and Indian minorities have nothing to fear from its passage.
The present strength of the electoral college is 781 as six seats are vacant in the Rajya Sabha and one in the Lok Sabha. This puts the majority mark at 391. The NDA has 425 MPs, while the opposition camp has the backing of 324.
Initiating the debate from the opposition's side in the Lok Sabha, Gandhi said, "I stand here in support of Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam."
Elections for 19 Rajya Sabha seats spread across eight states will be held on Friday with the contest in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan promising to be a close affair between the BJP and the Congress.
The party may announce Somen Mitra as the Lok Sabha candidate from North Kolkata whose name is set to be decided upon following intra-party elections to choose contenders -- a move initiated by the Congress vice-president to ensure transparency in ticket-distribution system. Renu Mittal reports.
Union Minister Suresh Gopi expressed his desire to step down from his ministerial post and recommended BJP's newly elected Rajya Sabha member C Sadanandan Master as his replacement in the central cabinet.
Lok Janshakti Party supremo Ram Vilas Paswan and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Rajeev Pratap Rudy on Thursday won their respective Rajya Sabha seats from Bihar.It has been reported that the BJP and its partner Janata Dal -United are optimistic about winning three seats, while the Rashtriya Janata Dal and LJP appear confident of winning both the seats they are contesting.The RJD-LJP alliance has the support of 68 MLAs, against the requirement of 76.
The outrage over the Mumbai gang rape of a young photojournalist resonated in Lok Sabha on Saturday with members voicing concern that such incidents continue despite laws being made stringent, a view shared by the government.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) has appointed Abhishek Banerjee as its new parliamentary leader in the Lok Sabha, replacing Sudip Bandopadhyay. The decision was made during a virtual meeting chaired by Mamata Banerjee. This move is seen as a generational shift and a preparation for the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections.
No confidence motions have been moved in the Lok Sabha 27 times in the past, and all of them have either been defeated or remained inconclusive, data compiled by a think tank shows.
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