External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Tuesday clear that participation in the events was not 'compulsory'.
Earlier in the day, leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said the Bharatiya Janata Party would allow Parliament to function if the coal block allocations were cancelled and an independent inquiry was ordered.
Voicing concern over disruptions in Parliament, President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday asked Parliamentarians to do "some introspection" over functioning of the House.
Reflecting escalation of confrontation with the government, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday decided to boycott meetings to be called by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath or Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar as it accused Congress President Sonia Gandhi of not allowing the opposition to air their views in Parliament.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's dinner on Thursday for the Bharatiya Janata Party top brass failed to break the impasse over the Foreign Direct Investment in retail issue with the opposition party insisting on a discussion in Parliament on it under provisions which entail voting.
The Lok Sabha witnessed unruly scenes during Question Hour today as Congress and Telugu Desam Party members raised the Telangana issue and DMK members of Parliament protested holding of Commonwealth Summit in Sri Lanka.
"The Parliament session has a very heavy legislative agenda. We are reaching out to the various political parties to carry through these agenda in the four weeks that we have for the session," Finance Minister P Chidambaram said today at a press conference in New Delhi.
Four months after the Supreme Court quashed the appointment of P J Thomas, a high-level committee chaired by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Saturday finalised the name for the post of chief vigilance commissioner.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday the Intelligence Bureau's 'chewing gum theory' regarding the alleged bugging of Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's office as 'big joke'. The party has demanded a thorough probe into the matter.
Addressing media persons at a press conference, Swaraj said: "We have elected him for a full term. We did not elect him Leader of Opposition with a deadline."
Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj expressed disappointment over former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee not getting the Bharat Ratna this year, saying the Bharatiya Janata Party was expecting it. She also said the sanctity of these awards should be maintained as even some failures have been conferred with the honour.
P A Sangma, the Opposition candidate for the Presidential poll, on Thursday filed his nomination papers in the presence of leaders from the Bharatiya Janata Party, some National Democratic Alliance allies, Biju Janata Dal, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, northeast states and tribal legislators in New Delhi.
The Bharatiya Janata Party veteran Murli Manohar Joshi's complaint that Parliamentary Affairs Minister was threatening the opposition generated heat in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday but the prompt withdrawal by Kamal Nath of his remarks paved the way for running the House.
Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari, parliamentary party chief L K Advani and Leader of Opposition of both Houses of Parliament will finalise the strategy for Presidential and Vice Presidential elections and discuss the issue with the National Democratic Alliance partners.
According to sources, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday spoke to Opposition leaders about this decision. Details awaited.
In his letter, Soren conceded that his support to the UPA government during the cut motion moved by the Opposition was a mistake. He pleaded with Swaraj for justice for the people of Jharkhand.
The government on Friday reached out to the Opposition to end the impasse in Parliament over the coal block allocation issue but the Bharatiya Janata Party remained firm on its stand that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should resign for his alleged complicity in the case.
With the impasse in Parliament continuing, the government on Thursday reached out to the main Opposition with Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde meeting BJP leader Sushma Swaraj after which he hoped the matter could be resolved by Monday.
She maintained that the allocation for increasing agricultural productivity and irrigation, among several other subjects, were too less to usher in any significant growth.
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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".
The government on Tuesday conceded the opposition demand for having 30 members in the Joint Parliamentary Committee to probe the 2G spectrum issue, giving up its earlier plan for a 21-member panel to accommodate smaller parties like All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, sources said.
Lok Sabha passed a bill to regulate street vending activities and protect the rights of urban street vendors, including against harassment by police and municipal authorities.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Gopinath Munde, who is sulking over certain decisions of the party leadership, on Tuesday ruled out quitting the party and said he has put across his 'grievances' to the party top brass.
With the Lok Sabha speaker's all-party meeting failing to break the logjam on Foreign Direct Investment in retail issue, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has invited the top brass of main Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party for a dinner on Thursday to ensure smooth functioning of Parliament in the winter session.
Stung by his 'skeletons in cupboard' remark, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday stepped up attack on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the 2G issue alleging that he was aware of the minutest of details in the matter and will have to answer Opposition charges in Parliament.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday defended the washout of nearly the entire Monsoon Session of Parliament by the Opposition saying a similar exercise in 2010 on the 2G spectrum issue had led to cleansing of the telecom sector and hoped it will bring transparency in allocation of natural resources.
The campaign vehicle carried a banner with photographs of Sunetra Pawar and Ajit Pawar with the symbol of the Nationalist Congress Party.
The Leader of the Opposition L K Advani wants the government to 'amend' the condemnation statement made against the opposition in the House.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday took its grievances against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress-led United Progressive Alliance to President Pranab Mukherjee, demanding his intervention on the coal allocation issue and attacks on a constitutional institution like the Comptroller and Auditor General.
Condemning the Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh, BJP today expressed its "shock" and concern over frequent targeting of political activist by Naxals and called for an aggressive, unified and non-partisan strategy to fight the menace.
The Question hour in the Lok Sabha was also washed out for the second consecutive day as an aggressive opposition stalled the proceedings over the same controversy.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday said the Supreme Court's "serious observations" in the Central Bureau of Investigation case relating to coal-gate involving Law Minister Ashwani Kumar confirmed that the probe report on the scam was changed by the minister and demanded his resignation.
A new Lokpal Bill will be introduced in the Lok Sabha on Thursday and the existing one withdrawn.
'Congress is being increasingly seen to be standing with Pakistan as Tharoor's statement was not an isolated incident'
Visiting Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik is likely to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday but will not have an interaction with Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi.
Atishi will have a brief tenure in office as assembly elections in the national capital are due in February.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has invited senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Adavani, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley to discuss United Progressive Alliance government's political initiative in Kashmir.
Demanding an inquiry into the purchase of 111 new aircraft by national carrier Air India, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has said the proposal was the root cause of the airline's financial woes.
President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted the people of Telangana on the 10th State Formation Day while state Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and Union Minister for Tourism G Kishan Reddy separately hoisted the national flag on the occasion here on Friday.
With the Monsoon session of Parliament set for a washout, BJP has started preparations for launching a "sustained" country-wide campaign to target the government over corruption issue including the controversial allocation of coal blocks.
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