Vice President of India and Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Wednesday defended Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in the House saying it has 'unimpeachable credentials' and is doing 'national service', as he took umbrage to remarks by a Samajwadi Party MP.
Dressed in colourful attire, members of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday got their group photograph clicked in the old Parliament building, hours before legislative proceedings shift to the new Parliament House.
Pointing out the instance of Kharge entering the Well of the Rajya Sabha on Friday, Dhankhar said, "It was extremely painful to notice that even the Leader of the Opposition walked into the Well of the House and that was a disgrace to parliamentary conduct and proprietary."
Speaking to media after meeting party functionaries at Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee office in Mumbai, the former diplomat also said his aim was to make Congress stronger before the 2024 polls.
A corrigendum to the joint parliamentary committee report on the Waqf Amendment Bill, 2024, was tabled in the Rajya Sabha after Opposition MPs alleged that dissent notes were redacted from the report. BJP MP Medha Vishram Kulkarni tabled the corrigendum, which included the un-redacted dissent notes. The Opposition MPs, led by Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, had earlier accused the government of misleading the House by deleting the dissent notes. The government, however, denied the allegations. Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar thanked the government for the corrigendum, saying it showed that parliamentary institutions are blossoming. Opposition MPs, however, said it was done under their pressure.
He said the people are looking for an alternative and the Congress' victories in Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka elections are clear proof of this.
Just eight months after its good showing in the Lok Sabha polls, the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) seems to be running out of steam with internal bickering and conflicting ambitions resulting in diminishing electoral returns that have once again put the Bharatiya Janata Party in the driver's seat in national politics.
The disqualification of wrestler Vinesh Phogat in the Olympics after being found overweight before the final bout also saw the government and Opposition come to blows in Parliament.
Several opposition MPs in India have criticized the government's handling of the deportation of Indian citizens from the United States, questioning the treatment they received. A US military aircraft carrying 104 Indian immigrants landed in Amritsar, India, on Wednesday, marking the first batch of Indians deported by the Donald Trump administration as part of a crackdown on illegal immigration. The deportees reported being handcuffed throughout the journey, sparking protests from opposition leaders who staged a demonstration in Parliament wearing handcuffs. While the government maintains it will address the issue at a later time, opposition members condemned the treatment of the Indians and questioned the government's handling of the situation.
"Modi ji should apologise. There is no question of our apologising," he added.
The Janata Dal-United leader maintained that having taken the initiative to bring parties opposed to the Bharatiya Janata Party, he desired nothing for himself but admitted having stressed at the meeting the need to expedite seat-sharing arrangements.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejashwi Yadav on Wednesday met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge in New Delhi in the presence of Rahul Gandhi.
BJP and RSS leaders are once again pushing to remove the words 'secular' and 'socialist' from the Constitution's Preamble, showing a deeper effort to change India's identity from a diverse, multi-religious republic to a Hindu-first nation, even though they don't have the numbers in Parliament to officially change the Constitution, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Congress has, however, countered this saying someone who is not an MP of Rajya Sabha cannot be called to the House and there cannot be any discussion/reflection on or about an MP of Lok Sabha.
Talking to reporters in Bhopal, Kharge said he believes in collective leadership and if elected president, will consult party leaders Sonia Gandhi as well as Rahul Gandhi on organisational matters.
After joining the Congress, Rahul Kaswan said he felt his "voice was not being heard" in the party.
The opposition party, however, said the four eminent Congress MPs and leaders who have been included at the instance of the Modi government will, of course, go with the delegations and make their contributions.
An Army vehicle skidded off the road and fell into a gorge near SK Payen in the north Kashmir district, they said.
The Congress on Saturday accused the Centre of insulting Dr Manmohan Singh, the country's first Sikh prime minister, by carrying out his last rites at the Nigambodh Ghat instead of a designated spot that could later become his memorial.
Nearly Rs 258 crore was incurred on 38 foreign visits of Prime Minister Narendra Modi between May 2022 and December 2024, according to data shared by the government.
If elected, he will be the second All India Congress Committee president from Karnataka after S Nijalingappa, and also a Dalit leader to hold the post after Jagjivan Ram.
The Congress would also take inspiration from history as it was from Karnataka that an embattled Indira Gandhi had revived her dwindling political future by winning a Lok Sabha bypoll from Chikmagalur.
'His willingness to take the initiative to fight for truth and justice and his willingness to cross swords with anyone for a just cause.'
The Congress' victory in the Karnataka assembly polls is likely to help the party get its candidates elected in three of the four Rajya Sabha seats from the state falling vacant next year.
Kishori Lal Sharma, a close aide of the Gandhi family, has been fielded from the Amethi Lok Sabha seat, the party said in a statement.
Leaders of various INDIA bloc parties have written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, urging him to allow leaders of the opposition in both Houses of Parliament to speak during the Constitution Day function to be held on Tuesday. The function will be addressed by President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. The letter, signed by leaders of various opposition parties, states that they believe in the best traditions and interests of Parliamentary democracy, the Leaders of Opposition (LoPs) in both Houses should also be given an opportunity to speak on this historic occasion. Parliamenary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, however, said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not be addressing the event and accused "some of the Opposition parties " of giving reactions without knowing the actual arrangement. He added that sitting arrangements have been made for the Leaders of Opposition of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on the dais.
The Delhi Police's Crime Branch will investigate the case against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in connection with a scuffle on the Parliament premises that left two BJP MPs injured. An FIR was registered against Gandhi after a BJP complaint accused him of physical assault and incitement. Police will also investigate a separate complaint filed by the Congress, accusing BJP MPs of misbehaving with party chief Mallikarjun Kharge. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has banned demonstrations by MPs and political parties at any of the Parliament gates following the incident.
A day after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was booked in connection with a scuffle on the Parliament premises, sources said police are likely to record the statements of the two injured MPs on Friday and may also call the opposition leader for questioning.
The Congress leader also lamented the exclusion of current Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge from the committee
The NJAC Act, which sought to overturn the collegium system of appointing Supreme Court and high court judges, was struck down by the top court in 2015.
Modi had said he receives "2.5-3 kg" of abuses everyday, but he turns the harsh remarks into positive energy.
The move came after a high powered selection committee comprising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Justice A K Sikri and leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, in a split verdict, decided to transfer him 21 days ahead of the completion of his tenure.
Kharge, who was popularly known as "solillada Saradara", (a leader without defeat) faced his first electoral loss in his political life spanning several decades against BJP's Umesh Jadhav in Gulbarga by a margin of 95,452 votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the Congress on Wednesday announced five guarantees for women, including annual direct cash transfers of Rs 1 lakh to one woman from each of the country's poorest families and 50 per cent quota in all new recruitments in central government jobs.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Interim Budget on February 1 ahead of the Lok Sabha elections likely to be held in April-May.
The Congress on Thursday objected to Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar deleting some portions of Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge's speech from official records, saying he used no unparliamentary words and some of the expressions he employed were earlier used even by former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Ahead of its presidential poll, the Congress on Monday issued a set of guidelines for the election, debarring party office-bearers from campaigning for candidates.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge accused the BJP-RSS of carrying out a "well-planned conspiracy" against national heroes and said that Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's ideology was contrary to the RSS' ideas. He defended the relationship between Sardar Patel and Jawaharlal Nehru, saying they were "two sides of the same coin". He also criticized the BJP-RSS for their alleged attempts to appropriate the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel.
MPs cutting across party lines were seen violating social distancing norms during President Ram Nath Kovind's address to the joint sitting of both houses of Parliament on Monday.
Sources said leaders of various opposition parties who have now formed the INDIA alliance will meet in the chamber of Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and will discuss their further strategy in Parliament.
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