This will be the 49-year-old JMM leader's fourth stint as chief minister. Soren retained the Barhait seat, defeating BJP's Gamliyel Hembrom by a margin of 39,791 votes in the recent assembly polls.
The opposition party, however, said the four eminent Congress MPs and leaders who have been included at the instance of the Modi government will, of course, go with the delegations and make their contributions.
The sources said the opposition leaders would now plan joint rallies that were put on hold due to the assembly elections.
Mallikarjun Kharge, former Congress President Rahul Gandhi, General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra attended the swearing in ceremony, while former AICC President Sonia Gandhi was absent. Chief Ministers of Congress ruled states Ashok Gehlot (Rajasthan), Bhupesh Baghel (Chhattisgarh) and Sukhvinder Singh Sukku (Himachal Pradesh) and several top party leaders were also in attendance.
The disqualification of wrestler Vinesh Phogat in the Olympics after being found overweight before the final bout also saw the government and Opposition come to blows in Parliament.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar upon his arrival from Saudi Arabia to take stock of the situation following the terror attack in Pahalgam, Kashmir. The meeting also included Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri. The attack, which killed at least 26 people, including tourists from the UAE and Nepal, has sparked nationwide shock and outrage.
A day after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was booked in connection with a scuffle on the Parliament premises, sources said police are likely to record the statements of the two injured MPs on Friday and may also call the opposition leader for questioning.
A total of 20 forms were received during the nomination process. Four of them were rejected as signatures were repeated or did not match, he said.
The Delhi Police's Crime Branch will investigate the case against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in connection with a scuffle on the Parliament premises that left two BJP MPs injured. An FIR was registered against Gandhi after a BJP complaint accused him of physical assault and incitement. Police will also investigate a separate complaint filed by the Congress, accusing BJP MPs of misbehaving with party chief Mallikarjun Kharge. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has banned demonstrations by MPs and political parties at any of the Parliament gates following the incident.
Nationalist Congress Party-SP chief Sharad Pawar on Thursday turned 84 and celebrated his birthday with members of his family and well-wishers, including estranged nephew and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.
The party was reacting to Kumar's decision to resign as Bihar chief minister and leaving the Mahagathbandhan alliance in the state and also dealing a body blow to the opposition bloc INDIA.
BJP and RSS leaders are once again pushing to remove the words 'secular' and 'socialist' from the Constitution's Preamble, showing a deeper effort to change India's identity from a diverse, multi-religious republic to a Hindu-first nation, even though they don't have the numbers in Parliament to officially change the Constitution, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Mr Modi has the power and pre-eminence in the BJP-RSS to choose how long he wants to serve, and he is definitely going to want to contest in 2029.' 'He will only be 79, as old as Donald Trump now, and fitter,' observes Shekhar Gupta.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has written to Congress stalwart and former prime minister Manmohan Singh thanking him for his 'sheer presence' in Rajya Sabha despite his poor health to vote against the Delhi services bill.
'His willingness to take the initiative to fight for truth and justice and his willingness to cross swords with anyone for a just cause.'
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a chargesheet in the Associated Journals Limited-Young Indian-National Herald money-laundering case, seeking confiscation of assets worth Rs 661 crore and appending statements of Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. The agency has accused the Gandhis of orchestrating a conspiracy to illegally obtain the underlying assets of AJL by the beneficial owners of YI (Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi). Both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi have denied any wrongdoing and said the takeover of Associated Journals Limited (AJL) by Young Indian (YI) was not for commercial purposes. The Congress has slammed the chargesheet, alleging that the ED action against its leaders shows panic and moral bankruptcy of the "despotic" government, while the BJP has continued to call out the role of the Gandhi family in the matter.
Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu and suggested to convene an all party meeting and virtual meetings of Parliament Standing Committees to discuss the COVID-19 situation in the country.
They said the meeting was necessitated after "some differences" cropped up in seat-sharing arrangement during the talks between the local leadership of the parties.
Tejashwi Yadav said that could not have a word with Telangana CM but rest all leaders are coming.
Sources said the process was stuck since Rahul Gandhi is not willing to contest the election for the post of Congress president, although all the efforts to convince him are still going on.
Sources said the decision was taken at a meeting of INDIA bloc leaders, who met on Friday morning in the chamber of Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge in Parliament House.
The decision on Rahul Gandhi's appointment as the Leader of Opposition was made after a meeting of the floor leaders of the INDIA bloc at Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge's residence.
A non-Gandhi is set to become the Congress president after 24 years.
Maken is considered a close confidant of Rahul Gandhi and was without any post ever since he resigned as Congress general secretary in charge of Rajasthan a few months ago.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh told an all-party meeting that at least 100 terrorists were killed in the Indian strikes on terror sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir under 'Operation Sindoor'. Leaders from various parties showed maturity and extended all support to the government and armed forces.
Media reports claimed that the arrival of the Congress MLAs is part of a precautionary measure taken by the party to prevent any poaching attempts as the newly formed National Democratic Alliance government in Bihar, headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, seeks a trust vote on February 12.
The committee, of which Mukul Wasnik is the convener and has former chief ministers Ashok Gehlot and Bhupesh Baghel as well as Mohan Prakash and Salman Khurshid in it, held final talks and suggested the way forward to the party leadership.
'Dr Shashi Tharoor by far is a much better choice.'
The leaders met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former party chief Rahul Gandhi in the presence of general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal and Telangana Congress chief A Revanth Reddy.
The Janata Dal-Secular demanded that the Congress government should sack Khan from the Cabinet for his racist slur.
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said his statement on 'Shakti scheme' was distorted and presented as if the Congress government in the state wanted to withdraw it.
Asked how many seats the Congress would fight on, Singh said they would be flexible in seat sharing.
What some of our leaders were up to this week.
No one from the Gandhi family was present at the All India Congress Committee headquarters when the leaders filed their nominations for the election.
The Congress announced on Thursday that it would not field candidates in the nine assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh where bypolls are being held and would support Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) nominees.
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and state Congress president DK Shivakumar faced criticism from within the party for his participation in Mahashivaratri celebrations in Tamil Nadu, which was also attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Shivakumar defended his attendance, asserting his Hindu faith while emphasizing his respect for all religions. He also clarified that he had not met Amit Shah and refuted claims of aligning himself with the BJP.
'Has the BJP not announced its candidates in Raebareli?'
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.
The opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) is unlikely to contest the Lok Sabha Speaker's post and the National Democratic Alliance nominee is likely to be elected unopposed, sources said Tuesday ahead of filing of nomination for the key post.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday attacked the Congress over party president Mallikarjun Kharge's recent remark on Lord Ram and Lord Shiva, and accused the opposition party of trying to divide Hindus for its appeasement politics.
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