Speaker Meira Kumar has referred Congress member L Rajagopal's resignation from the Lok Sabha opposing a separate Telangana state to the Ethics Committee.
Facing flak over his pepper spray attack in Lok Sabha during introduction of the Telangana Bill, Seemandhra MP L Rajagopal on Friday regretted the act, but maintained that he had done it in self defence.
Lagadapati Rajagopal, now being referred to as the 'pepper spray member of Parliament', is holding talks with Andhra Pradesh's caretaker Chief Minister Nallari Kiran Kumar Reddy about floating a new political party.
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The demands for frisking of MPs while entering Parliament, triggered after the 'pepper spray' attack by one of them last week, fizzled out on Monday with a Parliamentary Committee deciding against making such a recommendation.
With the pepper spray attack in Lok Sabha evoking widespread outrage, an emergency meeting of the Committee on Security in Parliament complex on Monday is expected to face a ticklish task as the issue of frisking of MPs could come up.
Seemandhra Member of Parliament L Rajagopal, who had created a ruckus by splashing pepper spray in Lok Sabha, on Tuesday resigned from Parliament.
In a new low in India's parliamentary history, pepper spray was used in the Lok Sabha resulting in hospitalisation of three MPs following a ruckus over introduction of the Telangana bill after which 18 Seemandhra MPs were suspended
A metal detector was on Monday installed in front of Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari's office in Parliament after he wondered why he is exempt from usual checks that all others are subjected to.
Even as the dust settles on one election, glory in Thiruvananthapuram has come with a new question on the horizon: Who will be UDF's candidate in the next Lok Sabha election given Shashi Tharoor has said 2024 would be his last? It isn't a vacancy that can be easily filled, points out Shyam G Menon.
Ten members of legislative assembly and council, who were with him, were also arrested by the police and sent to Falaknuma police station in the city. This is the second time in the day that Rajagopal has been arrested.
Cracking the whip, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar on Thursday suspended 18 MPs from Andhra Pradesh for rest of the session after unprecedented pandemonium broke out in the House over the Telangana issue.
In a rare gesture, not only the legislators of the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist)-headed Left Democratic Front and Congress-led United Democratic Front, but the lone Bharatiya Janata Party member in the 140-member state assembly, O Rajagopal, also supported the resolution against the Centre, saying 'it is the democratic spirit'.
Telugu Desam Party legislator D Umamaheswar Rao, who is on an indefinite fast in support of a united Andhra Pradesh, was 'very weak' and unable to speak, his doctors said on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Congress Member of Parliament Lagadapati Rajagopal also continued his fast against the creation of Telangana state in a city hospital. "Umamaheswar Rao is not able to speak. He is very weak but stable," doctors said.
The police are on the look out for Congress Member of Parliament L Rajagopal, who escaped from a city hospital where he was admitted after being brought from a hunger strike site over the Telangana issue.
During his visit to Hyderabad on Sunday, August 21, 2022, Amit Shah met with a movie star and a movie mogul.
It is quite likely that the Parliament itself could now attract people's scorn. That would be terrible, and not the people but the politicians would be responsible, says Mahesh Vijapurkar.
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Telangana issue rocked Parliament on Monday with Lok Sabha Speaker Meria Kumar taking the unprecedented step of suspending nine members -- four of Telugu Desam Party and five Congress -- from Andhra Pradesh for creating "grave disorder".
In an apparent bid to scuttle the move to form Telangana, Congress Member of Parliament L Rajagopal on Sunday threatened to go on a hunger strike if a resolution favouring the separate state was not introduced in the Andhra Pradesh assembly, which, he claimed, will be opposed by 225 members of Andhra Pradesh assembly.
Fast-unto-death by Congress Member of Parliament L Rajagopal and several other leaders, pressing for a unified Andhra Pradesh continued on Wednesday even as Chiranjeevi-led Praja Rajyam Party came under pressure from its MLAs to end its support for a separate Telangana.
Under fire for his pepper spray attack in Lok Sabha during introduction of Telangana bill, Seemandhra MP L Rajagopal on Thursday defended his actions, saying he did it in self defence.
Congress Member of Parliament L Rajagopal, who had threatened to go on an indefinite hunger strike to oppose division of Andhra Pradesh, began his fast in Vijaywada on Tuesday.
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Speaker Meira Kumar on Wednesday accepted the resignation of expelled Congress Member of Parliament L Rajagopal, who had created a storm by using pepper spray in Lok Sabha to protest against the Telangana Bill.
Congress Members of Legislative Assembly from Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra on Monday decided to mount pressure on Members of Parliament from the regions to quit their posts and fight against the proposed division of Andhra Pradesh.
Congress members of Parliament from Seemandhra on Friday hit out at the party leadership for not allowing them to move a resolution at the AICC conclave against the Centre's decision to divide Andhra Pradesh.
The YSR government had allotted Waqf land worth Rs 32,000 crore to Lanco group and other companies ignoring the protest by the Waqf Board and other Muslim organisations. Mohammed Siddique reports
After Telangana Rashtra Samiti president K Chandrasekhara Rao's 11-day fast forced the United Progressive Alliance government to concede to his demand for a separate Telangana state, some angry Congress leaders from Andhra Pradesh have threatened to go on a fast-unto-death themselves, to make the Centre reconsider its decision.Congress Member of Parliament from Vijaywada Lagdapati Rajagopal has declared that he will sit on a fast-unto-death in front of the assembly.
Setting aside their political differences, the ruling CPI-M-led Left Democratic Front and Opposition Congress headed United Democratic Front, once again came together to launch a joint fight against the Centre on the CAA, which has seen unprecedented protests all over the country.
CM Pinarayi Vijayan rejected BJP's criticism against the resolution demanding scrapping of the CAA. Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had hit out at Kerala government, saying Vijayan should seek 'better legal advise'.
Cracking the whip, the Congress on Tuesday expelled six Lok Sabha Members of Parliament from Andhra Pradesh who had opposed the creation of Telangana and had given a notice of no-confidence motion against the government.
It is time to pack up, sir! Please resign and save some honour of the Lok Sabha, an anguished Sheela Bhatt reports from the Lok Sabha press gallery after watching the shameful goings on over the tabling of the Telangana Bill.
Minister of state for Information and Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar on Friday said that the National Democratic Alliance government would not interfere with freedom of the press under any circumstances.
As the Congress and United Progressive Alliance government appear to be veering towards formation of a separate Telangana state, ministers and MPs from Andhra and Rayalaseema regions met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday opposing any division of Andhra Pradesh.
Three Members of Parliament were on Thursday rushed to a hospital in Delhi after they complained of choking and burning eyes following a pepper spray attack by a member during introduction of Telangana Bill in Lok Sabha while another MP was admitted for a heart condition after he collapsed during the fracas.
'Healthcare is so expensive that while it saves lives, it destroys more lives socially and financially.' 'While the poor gets wiped out, a middle-class man goes to a corporate hospital and after the treatment, he ends up below the poverty line.' 'Generally, hospitals would like to have patients who need procedures and operations.' 'They are not so fond of palliative care.' 'How much can be made from one hour of counselling? And how much can be made from one hour of an operation?'
Rumblings within Congress over its decision to form Telangana grew on Friday with its seven MPs, a state minister and seven MLAs from Andhra and Rayalaseema regions quitting amid indications that some more are likely to follow suit.
YSR Congress chief Jagan Mohan Reddy is in New Delhi to protest the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. He tells Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa that he is in New Delhi to show the strength of the Telugu people to Sonia Gandhi.
For Arnab Goswami, the television studio is a stage and he plays his part to the hilt, with a finger on the pulse of the English-speaking audience, says Veenu Sandhu
With Pinarayi Vijayan set to be chief minister, what will be the role for party patriarch V S Achuthanandan? And what are the key takeways from the election results in Kerala?
Congress is riven by four different approaches to an issue: the Sonia Gandhi way, the Rahul Gandhi method, Lok Sabha MPs' tactic, and Rajya Sabha MPs' style, reports R Rajagopalan.
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.
