The less charitable in the party say he owes his appointment Sonia Gandhi -- the family wanted someone who wouldn't talk back and would not exert himself too much, notes Aditi Phadnis.
The state Congress has written to Sitharaman, asking her to protect the interests of the state by retaining the exhibition in Bengaluru as she was a Rajya Sabha member from the state.
What stood out in his 15-year journey as a member of the political executive at the Centre was his glowing record as India's most successful and effective finance minister. Both as prime minister and finance minister, he understood the importance of gradualism, except when the economy or the polity was in a crisis.
As the lower house took up the motion moved by Gogoi, there were heated exchanges between the opposition and treasury benches after Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi wondered why Rahul Gandhi's name as lead speaker was withdrawn at the last minute.
A day before the start of the Budget session of Parliament, as many as 18 opposition parties, led by the Congress, the Nationalist Congress Party, the Shiv Sena and the Trinamool Congress, decided on Thursday to boycott the President's address to the joint sitting of both Houses in solidarity with the farmers protesting against the new farm laws.
Marandi returned to the BJP after 14 years and the party now wants him to lead the state unit. But a generation of new leaders isn't familiar with him, explains Radhika Ramaseshan.
While the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress alleged that the killings were a fallout of the TMC's infighting, the ruling party pointed fingers at the grand old party of India.
The former Congress president was asked to vacate the premises by April 22 following his disqualification after the conviction and two-year sentence by a Surat court for his 'Modi surname' remark.
Faced with criticism for her latest Budget not doing enough for the poor, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday mocked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's 2013 comment of poverty being a state of mind, and asked if this is the poverty she was supposed to address.
The CAA, enacted by the BJP-led government at the Centre in 2019, aims at granting Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim migrants, including Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians, from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan who entered India before December 31, 2014.
After his meeting with Rahul Gandhi, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Tuesday said there can be no opposition front without the Congress, in a clear message to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over her 'no United Progressive Alliance' taunt, even as another ally Nationalist Congress Party asserted it will make every effort to form a broad-based alliance that will also include the Congress.
The Enforcement Directorate has summoned Bihar deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav and his father and Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav for questioning in the railways land-for-jobs money laundering case probe, official sources said on Wednesday.
'Can you believe Ashok Chavan was with me in the senior leaders' meeting one day, and next day morning, he switched sides!'
Amid protests against a proposed oil refinery in Maharashtra's Ratnagiri district, state industries minister Uday Samant on Tuesday said the current site for the mega project was suggested by then chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, while the Opposition urged the government to stop soil survey work and be sensitive in handling the situation arising out of the agitation.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushma Swaraj on Thursday became the first woman lawmaker to receive an outstanding parliamentarian award.
In a jolt to Rashtriya Lok Dal, its Rajya Sabha member of Parliament Shahid Siddiqui and Anuradha Chowdhury, a former aide of party chief Ajit Singh, on Sunday joined the Samajwadi Party ahead of the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.
It will be in Modi's interest to reinvent his party, read the writing on the wall that voters wrote, and move ahead. He has little choice now. The country is watching, asserts Ramesh Menon.
In a setback to the Congress ahead of Lok Sabha elections, former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan on Monday quit the Congress, amid speculation that he is veering towards the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Only vegetarian dishes were served at the official dinner held at a state-run five-star hotel.
The public protest had erupted over the demand for rehabilitation of nearly 800 families evicted from the land they were living on for decades.
Mallikarjun Kharge was on Wednesday elected the Congress president after defeating Shashi Tharoor in an electoral contest, the sixth in the party's 137-year-old history.
Ahead of the Punjab assembly polls, former Army chief Gen Joginder Jaswant Singh on Tuesday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in Chandigarh in the presence of the party leadership, including Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.
Derek O'Brien of Trinamool Congress came near the podium and tried to show the rule book to the Deputy Chairman. An attempt was also made to snatch the microphone and the marshals tried to prevent it.
BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar distanced his party from Rane's view. "The situation in Maharashtra is grim, but it does not qualify for President's rule. We feel the state government is not serious enough about tackling the situation," the former state minister said.
The Trinamool Congress won 211 seats.
Tharoor argued that the proposed bill represents a "grave chapter in the history of the Indian republic, seeking to ratify an ordinance that in many ways is an assault on our democratic heritage and the spirit of federalism."
Rediff.com gives you a look at newbies in the Council of Ministers
Outcome of Assembly polls in five states will set the tone for the winter session of Parliament beginning on Thursday though the government has listed a heavy legislative agenda and opposition is demanding extension of the 12-day sitting.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday evening released its first list of 54 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections.
"The Congress have gone and made promises in Punjab, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh that they never fulfilled," Rajeev Chandrasekhar claimed.
The Akali Dal, an ally of the BJP, has written to the parliamentary committee opposing certain clauses in the land acquisition bill. A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com speaks to Akali Dal MPs to find out why they oppose the controversial legislation.
The demand for Tharoor's removal comes days after the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information and Technology was set to question government officials on the Pegasus spyware issue.
The veteran politician accused the BJP of breaking duly elected governments in opposition-ruled states even as it boasted about providing a stable government at the Centre.
Some analysts also pointed out that "outsourcing" political management to regional satraps such as Bhupinder Singh Hooda in Haryana may have proven counterproductive and micromanagement by the Gandhi family was needed.
Congress leaders told Rediff.com that if Sonia or Rahul Gandhi do not take up the leader of opposition's post in Lok Sabha, it would lead to factionalism and internal dissension, something that the party can ill-afford at this juncture. "Kamal Nath is undoubtedly a senior MP but his candidature is bound to be opposed by the MPs from southern states as they have won more seats," remarked a senior Congress functionary, adding that senior ministers like Veerappa Moily and Mallikarjun Kharge can be expected to push their candidature for this post. Anita Katyal reports.
Catch all the debates from the Upper and Lower House of Parliament.
The passage of this major legislation comes ahead of the general election due early next year.
A visibly perturbed Dhankhar termed O'Brien's behaviour "theatrics" that would not be tolerated.
Replying to a debate on the bill, Jaishankar said all members who spoke on the proposed legislation recognised that terrorism is a serious threat and so are weapons of mass destruction.
Former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot on Tuesday alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party government at the Centre had 'failed in every field' and claimed if the Congress wins in upcoming state elections, then the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) will form a coalition government in 2024.
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