Over 65 Union ministers are likely to take oath, going by the visual of the meeting Modi held with his likely council of ministers.
'The BJP will not win a single seat in Punjab.'
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.
'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.
Saturday's voting will mark the end to the marathon polling process that began on April 19 month and has already covered 486 Lok Sabha seats in 28 states and Union territories.
The share of candidates who were successful among the BJP was 56.5% in 2019. It was 5% for the Congress.
Even Congress MP from Ludhiana Ravneet Singh Bittu backed the policemen and praised them for their role during militancy and COVID-19 times.
The INDIA bloc has 95 MPs in Rajya Sabha of which 45 were suspended on Monday.
Following the hanging of Afzal Guru, Congress MP and grandson of late former Chief Minister Beant Singh, Ravneet Singh Bittu, Monday demanded the execution of Balwant Singh Rajoana, the convict on death row for assassinating Beant Singh.
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.
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.
To chart the Congress's future course, its chief Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday formed three groups -- on political affairs for guidance on key issues, task force-2024 to implement the Udaipur 'Nav Sankalp' declaration, and another to coordinate the October 2 'harat Jodo Yatra.
'We need more than assurances from political parties,' say relatives of the 39 Indian workers who have been missing in Iraq since June last year. Rediff.com contributor Upasna Pandey reports
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."
The Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund was established in March last year with the primary objective to deal with any kind of emergency situation like the one currently posed by the COVID-19 outbreak and provide relief to those affected.
About 20 Punjab Congress leaders met in Ludhiana on Tuesday, with some of them batting for a key role for Navjot Singh Sidhu, the former state party unit chief who was among the participants.
The Akali Dal-BJP alliance won on four seats and the AAP bagged one.
The Congress also stepped up the offensive against the government by launching an online campaign in support of the farmers' agitation, with party leader Rahul Gandhi accusing the government of betraying the farmers for benefitting their 'corporate friends'.
ACP (North) Anil Kohli breathed his last at the SPS Hospital, Ludhiana, Civil Surgeon Rajesh Bagga said. On Friday, the Punjab government had given its go-ahead to the hospital to conduct plasma therapy on the police officer.
The development has come amid a power tussle that polarised the ruling party in the state headed for elections in just about four months.
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.
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Friday said the COVID-19 vaccination drive will be extended in the coming days and asserted that there should not be any misconceptions about the two Indian vaccines being administered in the country.
The two, one a celebrity singer-actor from Punjab and the other a Bollywood star known for her combative comments, began bickering on the social media platform on Wednesday evening and continued till well into Thursday.
This is the first full-scale review of VIP protectees by the Union home ministry after the Modi 2.0 government took charge.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not respect farmers and wants to tire out those protesting against the Centre's new agriculture laws, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged.
'It is mind-boggling that a party can be in rigor mortis even after numerous electoral defeats,' observes Ramesh Menon.
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 decision was taken at a meeting of Sanyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of 40 farmer unions protesting at various Delhi border points against three farm laws.
Kaur, the Union Minister of Food Processing Industries, is the only SAD representative in the Modi government.
Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com gives the lowdown on the 59 seats spread across seven states and one Union territory going to polls in the last and final phase of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections on May 19, 2019.
Opposition members on Thursday created ruckus in the Lok Sabha over the suicide of a farmer in New Delhi on Wednesday, leading to adjournment of proceedings even as the government said it was ready to discuss the matter.
Congress members created an uproar over a range of issues, including remarks made by certain Bharatiya Janata Party MPs against its leader Jyotiraditya Scindia and the revocation of suspension of six of its members.
This crisis requires political sophistication and governance skills. This BJP has neither, observes Shekhar Gupta.
Here are some day's snippets of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections:
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.
At a time when the Congress is perhaps facing its toughest electoral challenge and senior leaders are opting out of the race one by one, the party has at least succeeded in fielding tough candidates in two Lok Sabha constituencies in Punjab. Anita Katyal reports.
The Nehru-Gandhi scion attacked the Akalis for allegedly plundering Punjab and appealed people to vote for the Congress in the February 4 polls "to transform Punjab".
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
The opposition battled it out with the Centre over farmer issues, the suspension of 6 MPs and the privileges of MPs.
The assembly polls are seen as a test of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity, especially in the wake of demonetisation.
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