'Shashi Tharoor has publicised whatever little he has done, far more than what he has actually done. Some of the bigger promises he made could never be implemented.' Ajit Joy, a former police officer and Aam Aadmi Party candidate from Thiruvananthapuram, tells Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier that he is a more attractive candidate in his constituency than sitting MP Tharoor.
With the world wowed by the incredible amount of riches found in the secret vaults of the Sree Anantha Padmanabhaswamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram, member of Parliament from the city Shashi Tharoor spoke to rediff.com's Shobha Warrior about the treasure, what should be done with it and the government's role if any as far as the temple goes.
Asked about the BJP's claim that its performance in southern states will be exemplary, Tharoor said, "The claim of an 'exemplary' performance is yet another product of the BJP's propaganda mill."
The police identified the driver and the vehicle through the CCTV footage of the area.
While Lok Sabha members across party lines demanded an inquiry, hundreds of students continued their protests near Rau's IAS Study Circle in the west Delhi locality where the horror unfolded Saturday night, killing the three students trapped in the basement illegally used as a library as floodwaters rose outside.
Holding that those backing Anna Hazare's movement against corruption don't know what they are for, Congress member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor has said the Jan Lokpal will create a "supra-institution" that would be a law unto itself.
With the Kerala Youth Congress elections round the corner, the bitter rivalry between state party president Ramesh Chennithala and leader of Opposition and former chief minister Oomen Chandy has come to the fore. According to sources, Thiruvananthapuram's beleaguered Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor has extended his support to Chandy, who has stood by the former minister of state for external affairs though the present IPL crisis.
The MPs suspended on Tuesday include National Conference's Farooq Abdullah and Congress leaders Shashi Tharoor and Manish Tewari.
He also said there are leaders who stand firm in their ideology but their number is gradually declining.
Two authors, two well known film makers and a banker discussed how the world has started viewing India in the recent past at the PBD.
While nearly 200 members were present in the Lok Sabha chamber, a little over 30 were seated in the visitors' gallery located above the main chamber.
Jaishankar said that the West has had a "bad habit" for a long time, of commenting on others, and it thinks it has a "God-given right" to speak about the internal matters of other countries.
Thiruvananthapuram did not give him a resounding victory, but did not abandon him either. If he learns his lessons and avoids the pitfalls of the past, he will have a bright political future, says T P Sreenivasan.
A parliamentary panel on Friday questioned top Twitter officials over a whistle-blower's revelations on its India operations, and gave them a dressing-down as their replies on issue of data security and privacy were "not satisfactory", sources said.
Maybe, the need for secrecy may have tied the government's hand from sharing details in Parliament. Still, it should consider the need of sharing the utmost within any consultative committee, so that relative secrecy is still maintained. But such a course should involve the prime minister or home minister, as it is much more serious than is being made out to be, argues N Sathiya Moorthy.
'I think when he (Modi) apologises for statements like that, then all of us can apologise for saying the opposite abroad. I think this is the level of political discourse we ought to grow out of'
'India's parliamentary democracy is ridden with flaws,' argues Rajeev Srinivasan. 'Parliament has become a monarchy, with seats captured by a strongman, and then inherited by his wife or children.'
Tharoor said, "My own view on the Sengol controversy is that both sides have good arguments."
Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra's expulsion from the Lok Sabha triggered a political slugfest on Friday, with the opposition calling it a 'betrayal of India's parliamentary democracy' and the Bharatiya Janata Party asserting that it was an 'apt decision' as there was proof of the allegations levelled against her.
Several leaders of the TMC slammed the rural development minister for his comments on the chief minister attending the Kolkata International Film Festival.
'Money was pouring in after Movers & Shakers. At the turn of the millennium, I was voted one of the top 10 Mumbaikars. People joked that even when they switched off their TV sets, I was there! I would ask God if he was compensating me for the loss of Ayush, the greatest tragedy of my life.'
The session, which was earlier scheduled to conclude on April 3, is now likely to be adjourned sine die on March 23, sources said.
The standoff between the government and the opposition in Parliament has showed no signs of easing after it erupted on the opening day of the Monsoon session on July 19.
Parliament is essential to the success of Indian democracy and the citizenry should be in the forefront of demanding reforms which help improve and strengthen Parliamentary democracy, says Rohit Pradhan.
Both Houses of Parliament had to be adjourned on Friday during Question Hour after Opposition parties created an uproar demanding that Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor submit his resignation over the Kochi IPL ownership controversy.
I am not a quitter. I was with the United Nations for 29 years. I don't know whether I will have 29 years in politics, but I don't intend to end with just 5 years, Dr Shashi Tharoor tells rediff.com's Shobha Warrier
The second phase of the Budget session of Parliament commenced on Thursday with all the attention turning on Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor.
Tharoor later apologised for offending 'some people' and said the 'whole selfie thing' was done at the women MPs' initiative in 'great good humour and it was they who asked me to tweet it in the same spirit'.
Kharge was elected Congress president, defeating Shashi Tharoor in an electoral contest, the sixth in the party's 137-year-old history.
Inviting EU lawmakers to J-K is the 'ultimate disrespect' to Indian Parliament's sovereignty, Sharma added.
One way forward could be for the CWC to name an interim working president for the party and then ideally dissolve itself, following which the main leadership positions within the party, including the CWC itself, should be opened up to fresh elections
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.
When leaders quote literary figures in Parliament.
Tharoor said people have incurred losses after their money which was invested in LIC, SBI was put by the government "in its friend's account".
Tharoor's social media post condoling Musharraf's demise evoked a sharp response from the Bharatiya Janata Party which accused the Congress of "Pakistan parasti (worshipping)".
The INDIA bloc has 95 MPs in Rajya Sabha of which 45 were suspended on Monday.
References to freedom fighter and India's first education minister Azad have been removed from the new class 11 political science textbook by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).
Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra on Wednesday wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla flagging alerts received by several opposition leaders about 'state-sponsored' attacks on their iPhones, and urged him to provide them protection to continue doing their duties.
Tabled by Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai, the legislation will reverse the effect of the Supreme Court verdict in May that gave the Delhi government power over administrative services.
'In his 2014 election campaign, Mr Modi had boasted that he would apply the Gujarat model to the rest of India. We just have to ensure he doesn't start with Parliament,' says Shashi Tharoor in this fascinating excerpt from his new book, The Paradoxical Prime Minister: Narendra Modi And His India.
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