'The PM says he believes in discussion and debate, then why are discussions and debates not being allowed in Parliament?'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hit out at the Congress for "misusing" Parliament to stop the country's growth and hailed Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav for "understanding this conspiracy" and working to end the logjam in the House.
Amid a slugfest over the issue of opinion polls, Law Minister Kapil Sibal hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday, saying it has "turned turtle" after seeking a ban on such surveys earlier. He said the government has not taken any stand on the issue but mentioned that there is a "general impression" that opinion polls can be manipulated.
The Congress' protests in the national capital were replicated in other parts of the country.
Bracing for the opposition onslaught in Parliament, government and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday decided to aggressively counter the attack on its leaders like Sushma Swaraj, Vasundhara Raje and Shivraj Singh Chouhan and rake up controversies related to Congress leaders.
Strongly opposing Aam Aadmi Party leader Prashant Bhushan's suggestion on the deployment of armed forces in Kashmir with the consent of the people, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday hit out at his party for taking a "weak" stand on issues of national security.
For three days, no business has been transacted in the Rajya Sabha with the Opposition digging in its heels.
Even Subramanian Swamy, who says he is an ardent supporter of the prime minister, has been taking proxy pot shots at him.' 'At the ground level too, there is resentment from workers and local leaders who have perhaps not got whatever they may have wanted,' notes T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan.
Sri Lanka's Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Jayantha Perera on Monday allayed India's fears on increasing Chinese military presence in the island nation, as he categorically stated that his nation will never compromise on India's national security or for that matter of any other country.
In a politically-significant move, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reconstituted a government committee on commemoration of the 125th birth anniversary of Jawaharlal Nehru which will be headed by him, replacing his predecessor Manmohan Singh.
Uttarakhand was on Sunday brought under President's rule by the Centre on grounds of "breakdown of governance" in a controversial decision.
The move came in view of a PIL filed in the Patna HC where concerns have been raised that some of these declarants could be engaged in routing their illegal funds.
Yielding to opposition demand, the government on Thursday agreed for a discussion in the Rajya Sabha on Gaza situation on Monday but not before proceedings of the day were washed out over the issue.
The government on Monday countered the Congress charges of snooping on Rahul Gandhi saying it was making a "mountain out of what is not even a molehill" as information collection was part of a transparent security profiling used on 526 VIPs, including Sonia Gandhi and former prime ministers.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Sunday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of trying to flare up the situation in Kishtwar to polarise the population with an eye on next year's elections to parliament and the assembly.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his lieutenants are reaching out across the aisle to get key legislation passed.
Junking of old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes, he said, will help the world's fastest growing major economy to move towards less cash economy and digital payments that will help shore up tax revenues and check evasions.
Opposition parties forced early adjournments in both Houses of parliament as they continued to press for a debate on demonetisation under any rule that entailed voting, a demand that the government has refused to accept. Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi led a walkout by the Opposition over no obituary references being made for the seven Army personnel who lost their lives in the terror attack on an Army base in Nagrota, Jammu and Kashmir.
'I want the prime minister to be punished because he put our country in difficulties as he took this decision without Cabinet approval.' 'When he had already ordered the printing of new currency notes on May 19, 2016, why did he tell lies to the country?'
Hussain said the new government had inherited an "empty treasury" while the prices of oil were shooting up.
He will succeed Kerala Finance Minister K M Mani.
Parliament on Thursday cleared the decks for the rollout of the historic Goods and Services Tax from July 1 as it approved four supporting legislations to usher in the one-nation-one-tax regime.
Amid a stalemate between the government and the Opposition over the issue, the House failed to transact any significant business and was adjourned for the day.
Venkaiah Naidu told the members that provocative statements are being used by anti-BJP forces to deflect the attention from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's development agenda.
Government on Friday hit out at Congress, saying the term "Hindu terrorism" coined by its previous government had "weakened" the fight against the scourge by diverting the direction of probe into the incidents of terrorism.
He also said GST will take about a year to stabilise.
Ahead of the Parliament session, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday reached out to parties appealing them not to come in the way of prosperity of farmers, saying the deadlock over the land acquisition bill is seriously impacting rural development.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj briefed them about the operation that destroyed Jaish-e-Mohammed's terror training camp in Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.
With Parliament virtually paralysed due to disruption by the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday attacked it saying it was using the National Herald case to "harm" national interest and holding the country's development "hostage" to its "selfish" political goal.
Several Muslim leaders on Friday echoed the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Bharatiya Janata Party's sentiments on the Section 377 issue with some even warning the United Progressive Alliance government that it would be taught a lesson in the 2014 polls over its move to file a review petition against the Supreme Court verdict against homosexuality.
Mayawati was outmanoeuvred by the BJP in the race for the Rajya Sabha in Uttar Pradesh just days after she helped the Samajwadi Party snatch two Lok Sbaha seats from the saffron party in bypolls.
Singh issued a statement on Monday, listing those who attended the dinner, and stressed that the election was not discussed during the meeting.
Bharatiya Janata Party Election Campaign Committee chief Narendra Modi on Saturday asked party spokespersons and panelists to take on the Congress and experts with leanings towards that party in media debates only after conducting in-depth and comprehensive research.
The Prime Ministers Office is upset that the Congress party was deliberately playing up the Saeed-Vaidik meeting in Parliament to detract attention from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with the Chinese president. Rediff.com contributor Renu Mittal reports
The broad direction for the reform process will continue to be positive.
Shiv Sena made it clear it will not support the land acquisition law in its present form.
Here's a recap of the events from the past 24 hours.
The Major Ports Authority Bill, 2020 was passed through ballot votes in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday with 84 votes in its favour and 44 against it. The Lok Sabha had passed the bill on September 23 last year.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's efforts to reach out to the Bharatiya Janata Party to end the parliamentary stand-off over the missing coal files issue failed on Tuesday with the BJP not giving him any assurance on the smooth running of the house on Wednesday.
The two Houses were adjourned for the day amid sparring between the treasury and the opposition benches on the issue.
