Pawar has occupied the post since he founded the party in 1999.
Patel's victory, which came against heavy odds, has given the Congress and the rest of the Opposition the confidence that Modi and Shah weren't invincible.
Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Piyush Goyal, Randeep Surjewala and Jairam Ramesh of the Congress and Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut were among the 16 candidates elected to the Rajya Sabha from four states where polling was held on Friday after tussle over cross voting and alleged breach of election rules delayed the counting by around eight hours in Maharashtra and Haryana.
Rahul Gandhi said both Rae Bareli and Wayanad "will get two MPs".
State Congress president and former chief minister Kamal Nath has been fielded from his home-turf Chhindwara, from where he is currently the legislator.
Speaking two days after his release on bail in a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, he also said a joint parliamentary committee should look into all such cases.
The Congress also asserted that the opposition INDIA bloc had been formed for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections at the national level and was not state specific.
The BRS, the AAP said that they are boycotting the address to protest against the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre.
'In Parliament, he was the one person who stood for democracy and secularism even when the principal Opposition party was not very forthright in taking on the BJP and RSS.'
AAP termed as 'foolish' the prime minister's call to clap and beat utensils in honour of Covid warriors. BJP's Sudhanshu Trivedi hit back, saying the PM's move was symbolic and sought to unite the country socially just like Mahatma Gandhi chose the symbol of 'charkha' for national cohesion during the freedom struggle.
"Sharad Pawar's presence has extraordinary importance when a new battle for freedom is going on in the country to save the Constitution and democracy, and in such a situation, Pawar should not step aside," he said.
He sought interim stay of the decision of Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu.
Biennial elections are being held for 58 Rajya Sabha seats across several states and by-poll for one in Kerala.
'Hindutva doesn't teach you to stab someone in the back.'
Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said in case a situation arises in Uttar Pradesh that there is a hung assembly, the AAP will enter into a post-poll alliance to keep incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party out of power in the state.
The standoff in Parliament over remarks of Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Mani Shankar Aiyar against Opposition ended on Wednesday with the Trinamool Congress member being reprimanded by Speaker and Aiyar expressing regrets.
Pawar said some programmes have been decided for the unity of the alliance.
Initiating the debate on the bill from the opposition's side, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi said that any delay in bringing the reservation into effect would be "gross injustice" to Indian women.
Both houses of Parliament were adjourned for the day on Friday after an uproar over the violence in Manipur.
The eight members -- distributed among the Congress, Communist Party of India-Marxist, Trinamool Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party -- were suspended earlier in the day for the remainder of the Monsoon Session over their 'unruly behaviour' during the passage of farm Bills in the Upper House of Parliament.
The tit for tat actions came a day after Ajit Pawar joined the Eknath Shinde-BJP government as deputy chief minister along with eight other NCP MLAs who were inducted as ministers.
The Supreme Court on Thursday extended Mishra's tenure till the midnight of September 15 in larger "public and national interest", after the Centre asserted that his continuity is necessary in view of the ongoing FATF peer review and attempts by India's neighbours to ensure that the country gets into the "grey" list.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party alliance and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi are facing multiple problems in Lok Sabha seats like Sangli, Madha and Satara in western Maharashtra due to political dynasties, old rivalries and one-upmanship, prompting a flurry of meetings before five phase polls begin in the state on April 19.
The move is being seen as an attempt to forge opposition unity to defeat the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.
The protesting MPs did not accept the tea and snacks offered by the deputy chairman.
'The people of Gujarat understood this a long time ago and has since been rejecting the party and its programmes.'
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday sacked Rajendra Gudha as minister of state, hours after he cornered the state government in the assembly.
The 53-year-old legislator from Adampur met with the BJP leaders in New Delhi and later, heaped praises on them. He was expelled by the Congress from all party positions last month.
Joshi, an MP from Dharwad Lok Sabha constituency, played a crucial role in the conduct of the recent Parliament session amid the pandemic in his capacity as the Parliamentary Affairs Minister.
Suspended Gujarat IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt wrote a letter to senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Rajya Sabha MP Arun Jaitley, inviting him for a national debate on any issue pertaining to the 2002 riots in the state.
The central government on Monday issued a Gazette notification to extend the tenure of defence secretary, home secretary, director of Intelligence Bureau, and secretary of Research and Analysis Wing for a period of two years.
Congress MP Shantaram Naik on Monday gave notice of breach of privilege against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikkar to Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari on a day Congress created a ruckus in Parliament against Modi's comments in an election rally against Sonia Gandhi on the VVIP chopper deal.
"The committee has unanimously passed a resolution. It unanimously rejects his decision to step down and urges him to continue as party president," Patel said after a meeting of the committee.
The Trinamool Congress condemned a Central Bureau of Investigation search at the party's Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament Debabrata Bandopadhyay's residence in Delhi today saying that the central agency was being used by the Bharatiya Janata Party government with a motive of political vendetta against the main opposition parties.
After a spirited eight-hour debate in which 60 members participated, the Lok Sabha passed the Constitution (128th Amendment) Bill, with 454 members voting in favour and two against it.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's victory in the assembly polls on Thursday has put the party on a stronger wicket for the election for the post of President expected later this year.
Several opposition members, including from the Dravida Munnetra Kazagham and the Communist Party of India-Marxist, also pointed out that the government took almost two months to impose the lockdown after the first case came to light in January, and claimed the delay had proved costly.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi along with some opposition leaders too expressed surprise over the President not being invited to the important occasion of shifting Parliament to new premises.
Addressing a joint press conference of opposition leaders at the Constitution Club after a 'Tiranga March' from Parliament House to Vijay Chowk, he said the government's intention was to get the Budget Session washed out.
On one hand, South Indian states have been complaining about denial of a proportionate portion of the sharable funds from the Centre, based on population. On the other hand, they stand to lose Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha seats that again are based on population, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
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