Biennial elections are being held for 58 Rajya Sabha seats across several states and by-poll for one in Kerala.
The Congress on Monday distanced itself from the controversial comments of some of its leaders on the Pahalgam terror attack, saying that only the recent CWC resolution and the views expressed by AICC chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and authorised AICC office-bearers represent its position. The opposition party's assertion comes in the wake of remarks by leaders like Vijay Wadettiwar, Mani Shankar Aiyar, Shashi Tharoor, Tariq Hameed Karra and Saifuddin Soz that have triggered a row, with the BJP alleging that some from the opposition party were speaking "Pakistan's language".
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.
Interacting with the Indian diaspora in Kuala Lumpur, Banerjee said, "We have been in talks with them (Pakistan) for decades, despite changes in various paradigms and governments. But one thing remains constant, the conflict with Pakistan."
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had recently blamed unemployment and price rise for the Parliament breach on December 13, when two protesters jumped into the lower house chamber and opened smoke cans.
As polling begins on Friday for the remaining 25 Rajya Sabha seats in six states, here's a list of some of the bigwigs who are seeking to be elected to the Upper House of Parliament.
Launching a scathing attack on the Congress, Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde wondered whether Indira Gandhi was also anti-Constitution as she had praised Savarkar as a "remarkable son of India".
Congress leader Salman Khurshid, who is a part of India's diplomatic mission abroad, on Monday said it is 'distressing' that people back home are calculating political allegiances and asked if it is 'so difficult to be patriotic'.
A day after his ministry rebuked Twitter for not complying with its orders to take down inflammatory content, Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said social media platforms cannot give differential treatment while handling problems on Capitol Hill and the Red Fort.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Nishikant Dubey on Wednesday wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker to move a breach of privilege motion notice against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi a day after his speech in Lok Sabha where he made certain allegations about Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his association with industrialist Gautam Adani.
Modi will stay in Patna overnight after the road show and address election meetings on May 13 in three Lok Sabha constituencies: Hajipur, Vaishali and Saran.
Performance is considered a major reason why Ravi Shankar Prasad might have had to leave telecom.
Paswan, one of India's most prominent Dalit leaders and eight-time Lok Sabha MP died on Thursday at the age of 74.
'We are not here to hold brief for Adani. But Gandhi has sought to mislead the people to link his disqualification with Adani. He has been disqualified because of conviction in a case that relates to defamatory remarks he made in 2019'
'It does not understand economics. The entire focus of this government is skewed.'
The reservation given to SCs, STs and the Anglo-Indian community for the past 70 years is to end on January 25, 2020.
'I left the party with heavy heart. If a party is working against national interest, there there is no other option but to leave it'
Workers from the BJP and Congress clashed in Patna during a protest march organized by the BJP against the use of abusive language towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi's late mother. The protest turned violent, with stone pelting and vandalism reported. Police intervened to control the situation, and an investigation is underway.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday defended the electoral bonds scheme, struck down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, saying it had a laudable objective of bringing transparency in poll funding.
Nowhere else has caste, power politics, and generational change come together to form a combination so potent that it is combustible.
Manoj Sinha, earlier minister of state for railways, will be tasked to conduct the auction and deal with issues like net neutrality.
The Congress on Sunday said it was not stopping anyone from being part of diplomatic delegations to be sent to various countries following Operation Sindoor and that its leaders who have been named at the instance of the government must listen to their conscience and contribute to the exercise.
The members, whose terms are ending, include union ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad, Dharmendra Pradhan, J P Nadda, Thaawarchand Gehlot and Ramdas Athawale.
'Rahul Gandhi's problem is that he doesn't think big.' 'He looks more like an activist, while politics is like a game of chess. You attack and then defend and have a game-plan.'
The delegations led by Baijayant Panda, Ravi Shankar Prasad (both Bharatiya Janata Party), Sanjay Kumar Jha (Janata Dal-United), Shrikant Shinde (Shiv Sena), Shashi Tharoor (Congress), Kanimozhi (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) and Supriya Sule (Nationalist Congress Party-Sharad Pawar) will visit a total of 32 countries and the EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.
'The ceaseless process of privatisation is shrinking the space of reservation.' 'Where will reservation go if you keep privatising?'
'We used to discuss how image-conscious Nitish Kumar was and his sophisticated conduct in public life. All this has become a thing of the past.'
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday hit out at the Congress on the Lokpal Bill fiasco in Rajya Sabha, alleging it was spreading baseless and factually incorrect views about the Opposition's role in the Upper House's failure to pass the proposed legislation.
The minister said revenue receipts for 2014-15 will be generated from auction of spectrum in 800MHz, 900 MHz and 1800 MHz bands and from annual spectrum usage charges.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday night named 12 candidates, including cash-for-vote scam accused Faggan Singh Kulaste and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley for election to the upper house of Parliament.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has given a notice for moving a breach of privilege motion in both Houses of Parliament against Joint Parliamentary Committee Chairperson P C Chacko for leakage of the panel's report on the 2G spectrum allocation issue.
The finance minister could not take the oath earlier in Parliament due to his ill-health.
Seeking to put pressure on the government on the Walmart lobbying issue, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday said it was determined to raise the matter in both Houses of Parliament and seek suspension of Question Hour.
Buch, under a cloud over allegations of conflict of interest levelled by United States-based short-seller Hindenburg, was asked to appear before the PAC, which is reviewing the performance of the market regulator.
India has now around one billion mobile subscribers, he added.
Differences cropped up among Bharatiya Janata Party MPs on the issue of providing reservation in promotion for SC and ST government employees a day after a bill in this regard was passed by the Rajya Sabha.
Do you, our dear readers, think it is high time the Union government awarded the Bharat Ratna to Atal Bihari Vajpayee? Or do you believe that the former prime minister does not deserve India's greatest civilian honour?
The cash-for-vote scam rocked both Houses of Parliament Thursday with Bharatiya Janata Party objecting to the arrest of two of its "whistleblower" former MPs and demanding suspension of Question Hour to discuss the issue.
Rejecting Opposition demand for removal of P C Chacko as Joint Parliamentary Committee chairman, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar on Thursday asked the panel chief and members to work out an agreeable solution to end the current "impasse" on its report on 2G Spectrum.
The opposition party's attack came after Shashi Tharoor, not part of the four leaders nominated by the Congress, was named as the head of a delegation to key partner countries to convey India's message of zero tolerance against terrorism following Operation Sindoor.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances