Condemning opposition MPs for attacking Harivansh, Joshi said the Congress and other opposition parties are frustrated with the rise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and have lost their balance.
Nitin Nabin, a five-time Bihar MLA, has been elected unopposed as the BJP national president, becoming the youngest person to hold the position. His appointment signals a generational shift in the party's leadership as it prepares for key state elections.
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 deadline for withdrawal of nominations ended on Friday afternoon.
Chairman of the Upper House Venkaiah Naidu Naidu clarified that the Triple Talaq Bill will not be taken up on Friday as a consensus has not yet been evolved on the issue.
The crucial, neck-to-neck contest was necessitated as the Bharatiya Janata Party fielded three candidates while Shiv Sena put up two and Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party one each.
A Trinamool Congress delegation on Friday alleged before the Election Commission top brass that around 40 SIR-related deaths had occurred in West Bengal so far, a charge junked by the poll authority.
This is the first time that the saffron party has become the number one formation in the Upper House after the Narendra Modi government came to power in May 2014.
This is the fourth such death reported in the state since the exercise began on November 4, sparking a political blame game.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi initiated a discussion on 150 years of Vande Mataram in the Lok Sabha, recalling the Emergency period when the national song completed 100 years.
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.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, along with families affected by the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, met with the Chief Election Commissioner to voice their concerns and demand a halt to the revision process.
The contentious bill will be tables in RS on Wednesday. The BJP hopes to get up to 130 votes in a 240-member upper house.
Members of TDP and Congress stalled the House proceedings.
There are two such seats in Tamil Nadu and one each in West Bengal, Assam, Maharashtra, Puducherry and Madhya Pradesh.
It will be tough for the Congress leader to return to the Upper House from either Telangana or Andhra, where the party's presence has dwindled. But neither House will forget her.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) are expected to announce an alliance for the upcoming Mumbai civic elections. The announcement is expected to be made at a press conference on Wednesday.
Several opposition MPs have submitted a notice to the Lok Sabha Speaker to move a motion for the removal of Madras High Court Judge G R Swaminathan over his order regarding a temple lamp.
He will be the first former Chief Justice of India to be nominated to Rajya Sabha. Former Chief Justice Ranganath Misra was also a Rajya Sabha member but he was elected on a Congress party ticket.
Its electoral triumphs in assembly polls, particularly in Uttar Pradesh, have made the BJP the single-largest party in the Rajya Sabha.
The Congress and the Left parties might move court to challenge LS speaker's ruling on Aadhaar as money Bill.
Even his critics say Thaawar Chand Gehlot is a man of delivery. 'If a task is assigned, he wins it over with political sagacity,' they say.
'There is no provision for a specific salary for the vice president; instead, they receive remuneration and benefits commensurate with their role as the chairman of the Rajya Sabha.'
Angry members of the Congress and other opposition parties forced adjournments of the proceedings as they questioned the NOTA provision for these elections.
The Trinamool Congress MP said he is unable to bear various incidents that are happening in West Bengal.
Embarrassment apart, it is a reminder to the Narendra Modi government that it is in acute minority in the Upper House
The Congress on Tuesday claimed that there are "far deeper reasons" for Jagdeep Dhankhar's resignation as the vice president than the health reasons cited by him, and said his resignation speaks highly of him but poorly of those who got him elected to the post.
On Tuesday, the government had agreed to refer it to the committee.
Rajya Sabha will sit for late hours in last week of the first half of the budget session from Monday to clear the pending legislative and other businesses.
Sources said that Shiv Sena MPs Sanjay Raut and Anil Desai will now sit in the opposition benches during the Winter Session of Parliament, beginning Monday.
A weak presence in the Rajya Sabha has forced the NDA to try and rope in 'weak links' in the Opposition ranks to pass key legislation in the Upper House.
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.
Union minister Smriti Irani will also contest the Rajya Sabha polls from Gujarat from where she is already an MP and her term ends on August 18.
Cricket maestro Sachin Tendulkar has come under criticism for not attending a single session of Paliament this year. Parliamentary records the former batsman has not attended a single session this year. He made it to just three in 2013 and has so far not participated in any debates in the house.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh gave Defence Minister Rajnath Singh diary entries of Vallabhbhai Patel's daughter, disputing claims that Nehru wanted to build the Babri Masjid with public funds.
Bharatiya Janata Party MP Kirodi Lal Meena moved for leave to introduce the bill to provide for the constitution of the national inspection and investigation committee for preparation of a Uniform Civil Code and its implementation throughout India and for matters connected therewith during the private member's business.
Rajya Sabha on Tuesday passed a bill to regulate the appointment and service terms of Chief Election Commissioner and election commissioners incorporating key amendments like retaining their status at par with Supreme Court judges, upgrading the search committee and inserting a new clause to protect them from court cases while discharging their official duties.
The election to the post is mostly decided by consensus, but opposition leaders complain that the Narendra Modi government was yet to reach out to them, reports Archis Mohan.
The Liberhan Commission report on the demolition of Babri Masjid on Wednesday generated heat in the Rajya Sabha with the Congress and the Samajwadi Party squarely blaming the Bharatiya Janata Party for the demolition of the historic structure, while the main opposition debunked the report.
Union Water Resources Minister Saifuddin Soz and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad are both set to enter the Rajya Sabha from Jammu and Kashmir. Congress president Sonia Gandhi cleared their names and both the Congress leaders would be filing their nomination papers on Tuesday.
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