'The BJP is keeping its options open and that the final decision is still tightly held.' 'That is consistent with the party's tendency to preserve suspense, avoid premature factional conflict, and use leadership selection as a way of resetting internal hierarchies.'
After a 6.5-hour debate, the upper house clears the bill. Amit Shah said the bill is not anti-Muslim and Indian minorities have nothing to fear from its passage.
The Election Commission has decided to hold bypolls to eight Rajya Sabha seats, including the four in Karnataka, on June 26.
Seven members are retiring from Maharashtra followed by six each from Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, five each from West Bengal and Bihar, four each from Orissa and Gujarat.
The issue of shortage of blank passport booklets leading to inordinate delay in issuance of passports figured in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday with members demanding immediate intervention of the government.
The bill was passed with 165 voting in favour and 7 against it.
The much-debated Lokpal Bill, which seeks to create an anti-corruption watchdog, is likely to come up for discussion and passage in the Rajya Sabha next week.
On March 30, West Bengal will elect five new members to Rajya Sabha. The ruling Trinamool Congress with its 185 members of Legislative Assembly in the state legislative assembly is in a position to elect three members to Rajya Sabha with ease.
Bharatiya Janata Party MP and former Union minister Narayan Rane has dismissed speculation about his retirement, saying his remarks made at a public rally recently were misinterpreted and reaffirming his commitment to active politics.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Jharkhand faced embarrassment on Thursday when their candidate S S Ahluwalia lost the Rajya Sabha elections, which was held afresh after being countermanded earlier as the Congress and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha bagged the two seats.
The Monsoon Session of the Lok Sabha was adjourned sine die on Friday after 19 sittings that saw the passage of 14 legislation while Rajya Sabha came to an end after passing nine bills.
The GST will replace more than a dozen levies central and state levies, including central excise duty, service tax and central sales tax as well as VAT on sale of goods and entry tax, to make movement of goods seamless across 1.3 billion market.
The present strength of the electoral college is 781 as six seats are vacant in the Rajya Sabha and one in the Lok Sabha. This puts the majority mark at 391. The NDA has 425 MPs, while the opposition camp has the backing of 324.
Opposition parties led by Congress and Samajwadi Party on Friday created a storm in Rajya Sabha over alleged government interference in the autonomy of Aligarh Muslim University, forcing adjournment of the House.
Besides Karunanidhi, all Union ministers belonging to the party at the Centre were at hand to greet the 38-year-old poet-turned-politician when she became a member of the Upper House.
Punjab Police and Chandigarh Police got into a minor scuffle on Tuesday over the custody of a Rajasthan native who is accused of filing his Rajya Sabha polls nomination with forged signatures.
A dispute has erupted between MVA allies Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress after the Sena (UBT) supported the BJP in the Chandrapur mayoral elections, leading to a BJP victory despite Congress being the single largest party.
Sushma said the issue is due to the "tri-junction point that is between India, China and Bhutan" and that if Beijing unilaterally tries to change the status quo at the tri-junction, then it will pose a threat to New Delhi's security.
AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's relationship with US President Donald Trump, alleging that Modi is acting as Trump's 'slave' and jeopardising India's interests on trade, oil and foreign policy.
A day after the Foreign Direct Investment in multi-brand retail got the approval of the Lok Sabha as the opposition motion seeking immediate withdrawal of the decision was rejected convincingly as the Bahujan Samaj Party and Samajwadi Party walked out, the Rajya Sabha will debate and vote on the issue over the next two days starting Thursday.
In a bid to break the logjam in Parliament over demonetisation, the government on Wednesday reached out to the opposition with Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar holding talks with Congress and TMC leaders.
They said a 'mock poll' would be conducted in the Central Hall of the Samvidhan Sadan at around 2:30 PM on Monday after the briefing on the procedure to vote in the vice presidential polls.
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Foreign investment cap in insurance sector raised to 49 per cent.
The Shiv Sena has shifted its 29 members to a hotel in Mumbai, ostensibly for an orientation workshop to make them aware of the functioning of the country's richest civic body, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday conducted raids at the premises of 15 Jharkhand members of Legislative Assembly as part of its investigation into the allegations of horse-trading that led to countermanding of the March 30 Rajya Sabha polls.
'The people of Bangladesh have voted for a party that represents political interest.'
'It is a pro-Liberation party and it believes in the spirit of 1971, as opposed to the Jamaat-e-Islami, which was opposed to the Liberation struggle of Bangladesh in 1971.'
The Congress party extended best wishes to the newly-elected Vice President of India, C P Radhakrishnan, while also recalling the words of the first Vice President, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, on the importance of a strong opposition in a democracy.
Noting that the Congress was not able to win even a single Lok Sabha seat in 17 states, he said it was time for the Congress to introspect and "accept defeat".
Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar's resignation has triggered the search for his successor. The BJP-led NDA is expected to consider probable candidates soon.
"The BJP tried every trick to defeat the BSP candidate and indulged in malpractices," the BSP supremo alleged.
The stage is set for a direct contest between NDA nominee C P Radhakrishnan and joint opposition candidate B Sudershan Reddy for the September 9 vice-presidential election. Nominations have been scrutinized and accepted.
Tejashwi Yadav and Prashant Kishore claim that a group of senior Janata Dal-United leaders and retired bureaucrats, locally dubbed the 'Bhunja Party', manages the state administration on Nitish Kumar's behalf.
Sonia Gandhi's counsel argued in a Delhi court that a complaint alleging she was included in the electoral roll before acquiring Indian citizenship was politically motivated.
With TDP and YSRCP trying to score political points, the sacred laddu may well create a storm in days to come.
The BJP MP also said that MP said that he will seek breach of privilege proceedings against Ghulam Nabi Azad for "falsely" saying that the UPA had blacklisted Finmeccanica, the manufacturer of AgustaWestland choppers.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju defended security measures in Rajya Sabha, stating that marshals intervened to prevent disruption by MPs. This follows objections from the opposition regarding the presence of security personnel in the House.
Home Minister Amit Shah criticized the opposition in Rajya Sabha, linking the division of the 'Vande Mataram' song to the partition of India. He accused Congress and Jawaharlal Nehru of dividing the song for appeasement politics.
The real surprise in these results came from Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM. Of the 29 Muslim candidates who got elected to the 227-strong BMC, the Congress and the AIMIM between them bagged 22.
Bharatiya Janata Party Vinay Katiyar and Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P J Kurien had a heated argument.
'It was then that the game started. It was decided that under no circumstances, the seat tally of the Congress should increase from 206 in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls'
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