Rahul Gandhi, who is scheduled to again visit poll-bound Gujarat from Saturday, said the government can't break the back of small and medium businesses, crush the informal sector and destroy millions of jobs.
The GST Council on Friday left taxes on COVID-19 vaccines and medical supplies unchanged after the BJP- and Opposition-ruled states sparred over whether tax cut benefits will reach the common man. Congress and other Opposition ruled states have been demanding a reduction in taxes but the central government felt the move may not result in tangible gains for people. "It is one thing to rush to say - do this, it will benefit the common man. But when the technical, fitment and law committees go into the details, you realise that that could have collateral impact on many others," Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said. "I am not talking about the revenue generation aspect, but how many other items will get included in it as a result of which how you are going to implement it," she added.
Rajya Sabha took up the discussion on The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 and The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill that have already been passed by Lok Sabha.
A private bus that mowed down a teenager in Mukstar and another that crushed a 10-year-old girl belong to a transport company owned by SAD leader Hardeep Singh Dhillon.
Roy's son Subhrangshu is also a Trinamool MLA from Bijpur constituency of North 24 Parganas.
The Congress expressed its 'whole-hearted' support to the 'Bharat bandh' called by farmer unions against the new agri-marketing laws and announced that it will hold protests that day at all district and state headquarters in solidarity with the demands of the farmers. TRS president and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said the party rank and file would actively participate in the bandh to ensure it was a success.
Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari and senior party leader L K Advani would address NDA's public rally in Hyderabad on Thursday against the Central government, highlighting the issue of corruption.
'The protesters took out a march carrying black flags. They burnt Prime Minister Narendra Modi's effigy while raising slogans against the three farm laws'
Several newly elected MLAs including Navjot Singh Sidhu, Manpreet Singh Badal, Brahm Mohindra, Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Rana Gurjit Singh, Pargat Singh, Razia Sultana, O P Soni are in the race for becoming ministers, party sources said.
With the counting for the high-stakes assembly elections is on in five states - Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa, here's a look at some of the big names and where they stand.
Congressmen are watching carefully how Rahul positions himself and manage the grand old party, reports Aditi Phadnis.
Karunanidhi was convinced that using the 2G cases against the DMK and reopening the fodder case against Lalu Prasad Yadav were products of the Congress leadership's short-sightedness. A revealing excerpt from A S Panneerselvan's Karunanidhi: A Life.
'We always had a doubt that Sidhu would not campaign against the Badals.'
Here's a look at some of the other darbars in the hard-to-please city of Amritsar, known for its appetite for food and drink and its insolent humour:
Modi flagged off the first batch of pilgrims led by Akal Takhat Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib through the corridor, which was thrown open days ahead of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev on November 12.
General Bipin Rawat, his wife and 11 others were killed in a helicopter crash near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday, the Indian Air Force said.
"Farmers would like to remind the PM that it is 'andolans' that have liberated India from colonial rulers and that is why we are proud to be 'Andolan-jivi'."
After her Facebook announcement quitting the BJP on April Fools' Day, BJP's Chief Parliamentary Secretary in Punjab Navjot Kaur Sidhu said "all is well".
The family has refused to perform the girl's final rites till the bus owners are booked.
Congress on Friday downplayed Narendra Modi's anointment as BJP's prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, while the Samajwadi Party said his "dream will never come true".
SAD president Prakash Singh Badal said the appointment of Tytler as a minister of state with independent charge in the Manmohan Singh government shows the Congress' indifference towards Punjab and Sikhs.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar wants the Modi government and BJP to reap the profit of the surgical strikes. But electoral history suggests a political party's ability to exploit military successes for poll gains has a mixed record.
The two bills -- Farmer's Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 -- were passed by Lok Sabha on Thursday.
Kejriwal blames Sukhbir Badal for blast, while Sukhbir, Amarinder blame the AAP chief for it.
The Congress vice-president will also meet farmers in Bathinda district during his two-day visit.
The chief minister said certain "leads" have been found which are being pursued aggressively and assured that culprits would soon be arrested. The chief minister has also announced a reward of Rs 50 lakh for anyone providing information on those involved in the blast.
The government on Tuesday asserted in Lok Sabha that it was ready to discuss issues related to farmers both inside and outside Parliament amid vociferous protests by the Opposition which forced repeated adjournments of both the Houses.
Setting aside their bitterness, both within and outside Parliament, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi shook hands at a function to felicitate NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, who turned 75 on Thursday.
The parties also said that the decision has come in late and had the Modi government shed its 'arrogance earlier' and repealed the laws opposed by farmers, a number of precious lives lost during the nearly year-long agitation could have been saved.
The summons was issued by the US Eastern District Court of New York after a rights group -- Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) -- and two victims of the riots filed a complaint before it.
The decision of its two oldest allies to walk out means that Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, who is also president of the Janata Dal-United, is now the oldest BJP ally besides being the most powerful.
5 states that contribute just under a fifth of the Lok Sabha's seats will go to the polls early this year.
The entry of Kohli, a local businessman, into the BJP came a day after the prime minister rejected perceptions of a 'Modi wave' in the country. Lok Sabha elections in Punjab are due in one phase on April 30.
Sibal said the BJP always tries to gain a foothold in states where its presence is limited and afterwards "dumps" its allies.
While the Punjab CM expressed grief, his Congress colleagues targeted Sushma Swaraj for misleading the families.
A handwritten note in Punjabi, purportedly left behind by the deceased, says he was unable to bear the "pain of farmers".
In a show strength, he was joined by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and other senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders.
Arvind Kejriwal said that 20-25% of AAP's votes transferred to SAD-BJP.
Speaking about his mission in the party, Sidhu said, "This isn't my personal battle, but the fight for Punjab's well-being and it's existence, and I am only the medium."
