A rebel by nature, he lived the life to the fullest, donning different hats -- lawyer, parliamentarian, minister -- but was not a quintessential politician constrained by party lines.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Telugu Desam Party have finally reached an electoral alliance in Andhra Pradesh.
The NDA, led by the BJP, has 5,37,683 votes includes the Shiv Sena, and the shortage is around 12,000 votes.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh on Wednesday said that he was seeking legal opinion before taking action against Shiv Sena Supremo Bal Thackeray, in the wake of his comments against Biharis and North Indian Members of Parliament. "If any editorial hurts the sentiments of other people, it can affect the law and order situation," Deshmukh said after meeting Congress chief Sonia Gandhi. He said a legal opinion needed to be taken.
If the Opposition has any chance at the prime minister's job, it can happen only if they all stop dropping names and work at the grassroots-level, state-wise, suggests N Sathiya Moorthy.
Parallel to this, the ruling Telugu Desam has been organising rallies across the state in solidarity with its MPs.
Arun Jaitley, who is recovering from a kidney ailment, attended the proceedings after a long gap.
Congress Member of Parliament and spokesperson Sanjay Nirupam and 20 of his supporters were detained on Tuesday, ahead of a protest march planned by them, to Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray's residence in central Mumbai. Meanwhile, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's spokesperson Shishir Shinde was also detained by the police on Tuesday, party sources said. The police, however, refused to confirm the report.
The Bharatiya Janata Party Parliamentary Board will meet on Sunday evening and decide on government formation as it emerged the single-largest party in Maharashtra and looked set to capture power in Haryana.
Stating that it was a "conscious" decision to quit electoral politics, Union Agriculture Minister and Nationalist Congress Party President Sharad Pawar on Friday filed his nomination papers for the biennial Rajya Sabha polls scheduled to be held on February 7.
Another minister -- Vinod Tawde -- has been accused of corruption in awarding contracts.
The Major Ports Authority Bill, 2020 was passed through ballot votes in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday with 84 votes in its favour and 44 against it. The Lok Sabha had passed the bill on September 23 last year.
In a statement after the apex court verdict, Thackeray said, "With folded hands, we request the prime minister and the president to take an immediate decision on Maratha quota."
Former Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar and three others were on Sunday inducted into the Union Cabinet as Prime Minister Narendra Modi expanded his Council of Ministers, bringing in 21 new ministers as Shiv Sena kept away from the exercise.
M Thambidurai of the All India Dravida Munetra Kazhagam is set to be elected unopposed as Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha after all major parties, including Congress, extended support to his andidature.
It will be presented in the Lok Sabha next week in its original form.
'The idea that the J&K issue gets internationalised by allowing foreign delegations to visit it appears bizarre to me because the issue is not about Article 370 or the decisions relating to the abrogation, but more to do with the post decision handling,' notes Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
Nirupam said he would take a decision on his new political address soon.
The appointments of five governors, including for Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya, and Lt Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands by President Ram Nath Kovind were announced on Saturday.
Police arrested four people for the assault on Wednesday.
Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu announced in the House that the election will be held at 11 am on August 9.
While the term of 288-member Maharashtra assembly ends on November 9, that of the 90-member Haryana assembly expires on November 2.
The Insurance Bill that the Bharatiya Janata Party government had announced would be passed in the winter session of Parliament has run into rough weather.
Pawar also disapproves Modi's criticism of Nehru during Parliament debate.
The NHRC issued notice to the Union ministries of home and human resource development seeking a report over the reported ill-treatment of Kashmiri people in the aftermath of the attack.
The government's top leadership was happy with Prabhu's Budget.
Shiv Sena, a constituent of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance, on Monday defended Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's "Hindu nationalist" remark, saying the Janata Dal-United's decision to snap ties with the party was "wrong".
Opposition parties, though resigned to the fact that they lack the numbers to defeat or stall the bill in the two Houses, have decided upon different tactics that they would employ to highlight their reasons for opposing it.
The Shiv Sena is leading currently in terms of criminal candidates. Out of the 14 declared by them in the first list 12 have a criminal background, as per the Association for Democratic Reforms.
The bill seeks to provide Indian citizenship to non-Muslims from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
He questioned why only migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan will be given citizenship under the amended law and not the Sri Lankan Tamils.
"Pawar said April 4 in the afternoon will be convenient for him as Parliament session would be over by then. Accordingly, the Commission has summoned him on April 4," Malik told reporters at the state secretariat in Mumbai.
Besides, the government would also undertake and promote steps for water conservation and curbing extraction of underground water, which is depleting the water table and is a matter of concern, the minister said.
In an unusual advice to Bharatiya Janata Party Members of Parliament, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked his party MPs not to show him respect by touching his feet or greeting other senior leaders by touching their feet.
The visit of the MEPs to Kashmir was not ceding of ground on Kashmir, the MEA said.
Elections for 19 Rajya Sabha seats spread across eight states will be held on Friday with the contest in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan promising to be a close affair between the BJP and the Congress.
MPs will first attend a 'Farm Progress Show' in Iowa, then visit the Monsanto headquarters in St Louis, Missouri.
The Joint Parliamentary Committee looking into the issue of pesticides in colas is likely to recommend stringent norms for soft drinks to safeguard the health of the people, when it presents its report in Parliament on February 5.
The state government is worried that the agitation may pose a serious threat to it, reports Sanjay Jog.
Hazare, 81, had started his indefinite fast on January 30 over appointment of anti-corruption watchdogs.
