With the all-party meetings called by Rajya Sabha Chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla producing no breakthrough to end the deadlock in Parliament, Union ministers Piyush Goyal and Pralhad Joshi accused opposition parties of repeatedly 'insulting' Dhankhar.
The BJP in the last few years lost a major ally like Telugu Desam Party but also gained a big regional partner like All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and several smaller allies in northeastern states.
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.
Both factions of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind (Arshad Madani and Mahmood Madani) slammed the Bill and expressed grave concerns over the proposed legislation.
Will Andhra Pradesh follow the Odisha model, voting differently in Lok Sabha and assembly elections? Or will Odisha follow Andhra Pradesh, voting in new faces in both?
Telugu Desam Party MP Venugopal Reddy, who was involved in a fracas over Telangana bill in the Lok Sabha today, termed as a "lie" the allegation that he was carrying a knife inside the House and claimed that he was assulated by 10 members.
YSR Congress Party chief Y S Jaganmohan Reddy said the wave in favour of Narendra Modi played a role in his party's defeat in the Seemandhra region, where the Telugu Desam Party-Bharatiya Janata Party combine swept to power.
The bill to amend the law governing Waqf boards proposes far-reaching changes in the Wakf Act, 1995, including ensuring the representation of Muslim women and non-Muslims in such bodies.
Anantapuramu MP J C Diwakar Reddy, who did not attend Parliament on Wednesday, said he would continue to stay away when the no-trust motion moved by the TDP is taken up for discussion, and also during the entire Monsoon session.
Those joining Prime Minister Narendra Modi's council of ministers for the first time include three former chief ministers -- Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh), Manohar Lal Khattar (Haryana) and H D Kumaraswamy (Karnataka).
Upset over frequent disruptions caused by two Telugu Desam Party members of Parliament, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P J Kurien on Friday threatened to suspend them for a day "for holding the House to ransom" but could not do so as members of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Trinamool Congress opposed it.
While almost all the members belonging to the ruling National Democratic Alliance took oath by swearing in the name of god, Human Resources Development Minister Prakash Javadekar, who was re-elected to the Upper House from Maharashtra, took oath affirming his allegiance to the Constitution of India.
The joint Opposition including the Congress, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the Trinamool Congress, the Left, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi and the Aam Aadmi Party did not join the Question Hour of the session when the House reassembled after its first adjournment till noon.
Nearly 4,800 elected MPs and MLAs will vote on Monday to elect the 15th President of India, with National Democratic Alliance candidate Droupadi Murmu having a clear edge over Opposition's Yashwant Sinha as over 60 per cent votes are expected to be cast in her favour.
Harivansh, a Janata Dal-United MP, is likely to get the support of 126 members in the Upper House, which has an effective strength of 244 MPs, sources in the Bharatiya Janata Party said.
Government on Thursday claimed that it had Congress "cornered" on the penultimate day of the Monsoon Session of the Parliament.
'Union Budgets are often used as political instruments and that was the intention of this government too.' 'But while the exercise has settled two fronts, it has left open several others and this has the potential to aggravate with time,' predicts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Campaigning for May 13 elections in 96 Lok Sabha constituencies across 10 states and Union territories including all seats in Andhra Pradesh, where assembly elections are also being held concurrently, and Telangana concluded on Saturday evening.
Telugu Desam president president N Chandrababu Naidu has held the Congress responsible for the flood of resignations by the members of Assembly from coastal Andhra and Telangana region.
The BJP is focusing determinedly on the seats it lost in 2019, with the hope of winning these either independently or with the aid of its allies.
The demand for turning Hyderabad into a UnionTerritory on the lines of Chandigarh and make it the joint capital of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana may be considered by the government.
Naidu on Wednesday said he has been supporting demonetisation, but added that problems arising out of the exercise "continue" as "we are going (about them) in a routine manner". "We have to take an innovative approach," he said, claiming that his remarks were "distorted by some".
The assertion comes amid speculation that the ruling party in Andhra Pradesh might rethink its ties with the BJP in view of its disappointment over allocation of funds to the state in the Union Budget.
However, a majority in the Council of States will continue to elude the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.
A day-long bandh called by United Andhra supporters, including Telugu Desam Party and YSR Congress, against draft Telangana Bill hit essential services in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema districts on Friday, inconveniencing several citizens.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and other senior party leaders, including All India Congress Committee general secretary Avinash Pande and spokesperson Randeep Surjewala, also moved to Jaisalmer along with the MLAs in five chartered flights.
Amid a tussle between the Union government and Twitter over the new IT rules, officials of the microblogging site on Friday deposed before a parliamentary panel chaired by Congress's Shashi Tharoor over preventing misuse of social media.
Flaying the 'pomp and show' associated with the 'coronation' of N Chandrababu Naidu, Jaganmohan Reddy, chief of YSR Congress party, on Saturday said he does not want to be part of the extravagant swearing-in ceremony when Andhra Pradesh is in deep crisis.
A suitable non-Congress candidate from a regional party could help influence even some of the NDA allies like the Shiv Sena and the Janata Dal-United to vote for a consensus Opposition candidate, reports Archis Mohan.
While Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy is considering staying away from mainstream politics for a few months after resigning, Seema-Andhra MPs are gearing up to join the BJP or YSR Congress. Vicky Nanjappa reports
How many seats will the TDP win? How many seats will the YSR Congress win?
The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs took the decision to extend the session till September 6 at a meeting held in Parliament House.
According to a document by the Association for Democratic Reforms, the average number of years a case against a member of Parliament or a member of Legislative Assembly is pending is seven years. Vicky Nanjappa reports
"This is a golden opportunity for us to lift the lives of the poor, the deprived. This is the time for doing more development and reforms," he said.
The Janata Dal-United on Tuesday became the third major ally after the Shiv Sena and the Akali Dal to snap ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party after 2019.
Both Houses have been witnessing a ruckus over the Rafale fighter jet deal and Cauvery river issue, among other matters.
As the Lok Sabha debates a no-confidence motion brought against the Narendra Modi government by the opposition, the 28th such motion to be admitted in the Lower House, data compiled by a think tank shows all previous ones have either been defeated or remained inconclusive.
The 56-year-old leader is considered to be close to both Modi and BJP president Amit Shah.
With the reality of coalition politics staring the BJP in its face, this was inevitable, points out Ramesh Menon.
According to an Andhra government statement, Naidu 'reposed confidence' in the PM's leadership.
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