The opposition Telugu Desam Party on Friday suffered yet another setback with senior MP C Ramachandraiah quitting the party following differences with the leadership amid indications that he may join the yet-to-be-launched party by Telugu superstar Chiranjeevi. A prominent backward class leader from Kadapa district in Rayalaseema region, Ramachandraiah is a member of Rajya Sabha.
According to sources, TDP president and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu has zeroed in on the name of his brother-in-law and actor Harikrishna for a Rajya Sabha seat that the party can win on the basis of its strength in the present legislative assembly, which constitutes the electoral college for the Rajya Sabha elections. He is expected to file his nomination papers on March 14.
Members of TDP and Congress stalled the House proceedings.
The elections for the deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha election is expected some time next week. The vacancy arose because the term of K Rehman Khan has ended. The Bharatiya Janata Party will take the contest seriously; much like it did for the Presidential and vice-presidential polls and may ask the Telugu Desam Party or the Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam to contest.
The BJP holds 28 of the 59 Rajya Sabha seats that will soon face election.
A draw of lots was held on Friday to allot Rajya Sabha members to Telangana and residual Andhra Pradesh following division of the state.
For several months, there has been speculation among political circles in Amaravati that Priti Adani was most likely to be given one of the four Rajya Sabha seats on behalf of the ruling YSRC.
The overall productivity of the House for the first three weeks of the monsoon session has been 22.60 per cent," sources said
NDA candidate C P Radhakrishnan filed his nomination papers for the vice presidential election in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior leaders.
The BJP has asked for a comment from the Prime Minister on the issue. The Samajwadi Party and AIADMK are also likely to oppose the deal in the upper house.
P Chidambaram and Rajeev Shukla of the Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party's Sumitra Valmiki and Kavita Patidar, former Congress leader Kapil Sibal, Rashtriya Janata Dal's Misa Bharti and Jayant Chaudhary of the Rashtriya Lok Dal were among the 41 winners declared elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha.
The BJP-led NDA now has nearly 100 members in the 245-member House. If the support of friendly parties like the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (9), Biju Janata Dal (9), Yuvajana Shramika Rythu Congress Party (6), and several allied nominated members and smaller parties is counted, then the Modi government is unlikely to face any serious numerical challenge there.
The contentious bill will be tables in RS on Wednesday. The BJP hopes to get up to 130 votes in a 240-member upper house.
The election to the post is mostly decided by consensus, but opposition leaders complain that the Narendra Modi government was yet to reach out to them, reports Archis Mohan.
With TDP and YSRCP trying to score political points, the sacred laddu may well create a storm in days to come.
This after most of the Opposition including the Congress, Left parties, the Trinamool Congress, the Samajwadi Party and the Nationalist Congress Party decided to boycott House proceedings in protest against the suspension of eight MPs for the remainder of the session for unruly behaviour.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the BJP-led NDA parliamentary party meeting, focusing on current issues, the upcoming vice president's election, and likely addressing opposition concerns.
The BJP is still short of the halfway mark of 123 in the 245-member House, but can now muster a 'working' majority with help of allies, friendly parties, some Independents and nominated members.
Cracking the whip, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P J Kurien on Monday suspended two Telugu Desam Party members from Andhra Pradesh for a day for continuously disrupting the House by protesting against the decision to form Telangana.
It will be tough for the Congress leader to return to the Upper House from either Telangana or Andhra, where the party's presence has dwindled. But neither House will forget her.
Rajya Sabha failed to transact any business for the second day on Thursday after uproar by members over the Telangana issue, killing of a student from Arunachal Pradesh in Delhi and plight of Tamil fishermen.
However, a majority in the Council of States will continue to elude the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.
Monday was the fourth consecutive day, proceedings were washed out over the Rafale jet deal and Cauvery issues.
The Lok Sabha, India's lower house of Parliament, will debate the contentious Waqf (Amendment) Bill on Wednesday. The bill has been met with strong opposition from several parties who claim it is unconstitutional. The government, however, insists the bill aims to improve the management of Waqf properties in India by bringing transparency and efficiency.
The much anticipated Telangana Bill was not taken up in the Rajya Sabha, which witnessed high drama and repeated adjournments throughout Wednesday.
Agitated by repeated disruptions, Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari on Tuesday wondered whether members wish the House to become a 'federation of anarchists', a remark which drew sharp reaction with the Bharatiya Janata Party demanding its withdrawal and the government asking for expunging it.
Amar Singh built an extensive network for the party, and was often spotted with celebrities, from the Bachchans to Anil Ambani to Subrata Roy.
Rajya Sabha on Tuesday passed a bill to regulate the appointment and service terms of Chief Election Commissioner and election commissioners incorporating key amendments like retaining their status at par with Supreme Court judges, upgrading the search committee and inserting a new clause to protect them from court cases while discharging their official duties.
Election watchdog Association of Democratic Reforms also reported that Janata Dal-United's Mahendra Prasad was the richest with assets worth Rs 4,078 crore.
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 deadline for withdrawal of nominations ended on Friday afternoon.
A Rajya Sabha member seeked a ban on Amir Khan starrer 'Mangal Pandey' alleging inaccurate portrayal of the hero of the 1857 revolution.
Several leaders of the BJP and its allies are of the view that the NDA this time is unlikely to follow the instincts that made it pick Dhankhar and will be more conventional in its search for his successor.
UP's representation in the government could diminish, given the BJP's decreased seat count in that state.
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.
The two 'One Nation One Election' (ONOE) bills, including one requiring an amendment in the Constitution, that lay down the mechanism to hold simultaneous elections were introduced in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday after a fiery debate.
A big question mark is on whether Shashi Tharoor, who had led the delegation to the US among other countries, will be picked as speaker by the Congress, as the seasoned Lok Sabha member's enthusiastic endorsement of the government's action following the terror attack has soured his ties with his party.
A cross-party delegation led by Congress MP Dr Shashi Tharoor is visiting key American nations to rally global support for India's counter-terror stance under Operation Sindoor, spotlighting regional stability and Pakistan-backed cross-border threats.
The swearing-in ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP national president J P Nadda and several other top leaders of the NDA.
Dominic Xavier asks why the Modi government appears unwilling to debate and discuss important issues confronting our great Republic and its people with the Opposition parties in Parliament.
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