Union minister Ravneet Singh Bittu has launched a strong attack on Punjab AAP chief Aman Arora, accusing him of lowering the standards of political discourse by resorting to personal attacks against his family instead of answering questions on governance.
The incident took place right outside Parliament's Makar Dwar, the main entrance which MPs take to enter the new Parliament building, where Gandhi was standing in solidarity with suspended Congress MPs, mostly from Punjab.
The change was made as the Congress's leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury would be busy in West Bengal assembly elections which is starting on March 27. Chowdhury is also the Congress' West Bengal unit president.
Recent BJP organisational moves and Rajya Sabha nominations have sparked speculation that Prime Minister Narendra Modi may soon undertake a ministerial reshuffle.
Political and business leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Gautam Adani, gathered at Sharad Pawar's residence for a pre-birthday dinner.
Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring has called for a probe by a sitting high court judge into the suicide of a warehousing corporation official in Amritsar, differing from other Congress MPs who want a CBI investigation. The case involves allegations of harassment against a former minister.
Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring is calling for a judge-monitored probe into the suicide of a warehousing corporation official, differing from other Congress MPs who want a CBI investigation. The case involves allegations of harassment against a former minister.
The prime minister is now expected to speak on Thursday in the Rajya Sabha, where the debate on the Motion of Thanks on the President's Address has taken place without any disruption.
After West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee stated that the truth would not emerge through existing mechanisms and called for a probe, several opposition leaders including Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge backed her demand.
The Lok Sabha witnessed chaotic scenes as opposition members protested the introduction of three draft laws, leading to torn bills, sloganeering, and adjournments.
Union Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday introduced three Bills in Lok Sabha for the removal of prime minister, chief ministers and ministers arrested on serious criminal charges for 30 days, drawing fierce protests from the Opposition as the draft laws were referred to a Joint Committee of Parliament. Three House marshals formed a protective ring around Shah. Even after the House was adjourned, the Opposition members continued with the sloganeering.
Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi traveled in the chair car of the Shatabdi Express on Tuesday to reach Ludhiana from Delhi.
Union ministers Ravneet Singh Bittu and George Kurian were elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha Tuesday along with senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi and former minister Upendra Kushwaha.
The Lok Sabha was adjourned twice in the post-lunch period on Thursday as a war of words broke out between the treasury and opposition benches, triggered by Congress MP Charanjit Singh Channi's spat with the Bharatiya Janata Party's Ravneet Singh Bittu.
Amid the ongoing Monsoon Session of Parliament, a heated argument broke out between Congress MP Ravneet Singh Bittu and Shiromani Akali Dal MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Thursday when the former accused the latter of getting the farm laws enacted while she was a minister in the Union Cabinet, and added that she 'doing drama' over the laws and showing 'fake support' to the farmers' cause.
Extending support to farmers who have been agitating against the new agricultural laws, the Wayanad MP told media persons, "I have brought farmers' message to Parliament. They (The government) are suppressing the voices of farmers and not letting a discussion take place in Parliament. They will have to repeal these black laws. The entire country knows these laws favour 2-3 big businessmen."
BJP leader Amit Shah in a poll rally last month had asked people of Ludhiana to send Ravneet Singh Bittu to Parliament, promising them that he will make him a 'bada aadmi' (a big man).
The Aam Aadmi Party's MP and lone Lok Sabha member Sushil Kumar Rinku joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday along with party MLA Sheetal Angural, dealing a blow to the party already facing a crisis following the arrest of its leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
'Indian players in the digital market should not be dominated by global players, and they should not dominate the smaller players -- these discussions are on.'
The MPs criticised the Shiromani Akali Dal leadership for being in the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA even after these bills were proposed by the government.
Some of them also flagged a lack of consultation before finalising the reports.
The INDIA bloc has 95 MPs in Rajya Sabha of which 45 were suspended on Monday.
'I would think that India faces less damage from opinions voiced overseas compared to the damage it suffers if the right to free speech of its citizens is curtailed in the name of image management,' asserts Shyam G Menon.
BJP plans to put up strong candidates against these 15 MPs.
As many as 11 Lok Sabha MPs of the Congress have written to Speaker Om Birla against the "unethical conduct" of BJP parliamentarians Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Subrat Pathak and Bhola Singh of sharing a distorted and fake video of Rahul Gandhi that could pose a threat to the country's social fabric and demanded swift intervention.
The Akali Dal-BJP alliance won on four seats and the AAP bagged one.
Ahmed Patel, K C Venugopal and Jairam Ramesh will be part of the Rajya Sabha Committee, which will also include Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad and party's deputy leader Anand Sharma. Azad and Sharma are signatories to the letter that demanded an overhaul of the Congress party and a new 'full-time and visible' party president.
Sources said former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi will write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for early passage of the bill in the Lok Sabha during the upcoming session as the same has already been passed by the Rajya Sabha.
The government on Tuesday announced that only four terrorists had entered the Pathankot Air Force station to carry out the strike that left eight people dead. This is contrary to a statement made by Home Minister Rajnath Singh on March 4 when he had said that charred remains, apart from four bodies of terrorists, were found at the debris after security forces searched the Pathankot airforce station when the operation ended.
This is the first full-scale review of VIP protectees by the Union home ministry after the Modi 2.0 government took charge.
The issue of alleged bugging at Union Minister Nitin Gadkari's residence rocked Parliament on Wednesday with Congress alleging that the methods used in Gujarat to keep tabs on ministers and MPs were being employed at the Centre, a charge stoutly rejected by Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
Ignoring controversies surrounding him over Adarsh housing scam, the Congress has decided to field ex-Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan for the Lok Sabha polls and has fielded Madhusudan Mistry, a close aide of party vice president Rahul Gandhi to take on Narendra Modi in Vadodara. Anita Katyal reports
Oppn members went into the area of treasury benches carrying a black banner, which demanded Shah's resignation, as Speaker Om Birla continued with proceedings of the House.
As the Congress mounted offensive over Narendra Modi's remarks on the AgustaWestland chopper deal case, the government on Tuesday hit back saying the prime minister cannot be gagged against speaking on corruption.
The opposition battled it out with the Centre over farmer issues, the suspension of 6 MPs and the privileges of MPs.
Kaur, the Union Minister of Food Processing Industries, is the only SAD representative in the Modi government.
Another bill related to the farm sector, the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, was passed on Tuesday.
The amendments will also allow the NIA to probe cyber crimes and cases of human trafficking.
President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday strongly defended the three new agri laws saying their benefits have begun reaching 10 crore small farmers instantly, and condemned as 'very unfortunate' the Republic Day violence and 'dishonour' to the tricolour during the tractor parade by the protesting farm unions in New Delhi.
This crisis requires political sophistication and governance skills. This BJP has neither, observes Shekhar Gupta.
