The overall average till 5 pm was 84.24 per cent.
The list of the 314 MPs, however, does not include Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, who is also a BJP MP, they said. The majority mark is 268.
There are "contradictions" in the approach of the two parties in fighting BJP and there is no question of an alliance with the ruling TMC in Bengal as it has inflicted atrocities on grassroot level CPI (M) workers, he said.
Proceedings in Rajya Sabha were repeatedly disrupted on Monday before being called off for the day as opposition members protested on the alleged phone-tapping and other issues and demanded discussions on them in the House.
Mayawati was outmanoeuvred by the BJP in the race for the Rajya Sabha in Uttar Pradesh just days after she helped the Samajwadi Party snatch two Lok Sbaha seats from the saffron party in bypolls.
Congress preparing a dissent note on the issue
While all political parties have been talking about following in the footsteps of the debutant Aam Admi Party by fielding fresh faces in the coming Lok Sabha polls, Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal-U leader Nitish Kumar has set the ball rolling by deciding not to renominate his party's three sitting MPs in the coming biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha scheduled for February 7. Anita Katyal reports.
Seeking truce with agitating Opposition members over controversial remarks made by Minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the matter should be put to rest after her apology, but it failed to satisfy them.
Criticising the move, the opposition led by the Congress said that Question Hour is the 'golden hour of the House'. Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, said the argument and rationale that has been put forth by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi is far from convincing.
In a statement issued on Monday, the US Commission for International Religious Freedom said that it was deeply troubled over the passage of the bill in Lok Sabha.
The Centre needs to have dialogue with the Opposition instead of letting politics come in the way; it needs to stoop to conquer, says Aditi Phadnis.
A weak presence in the Rajya Sabha has forced the NDA to try and rope in 'weak links' in the Opposition ranks to pass key legislation in the Upper House.
Archis Mohan decodes Bharatiya Janata Party's pre-presidential poll manoeuvres.
'When you come through the hassles and struggles of business life, your mind is wired differently.' 'You are more connected to reality,' Akali Dal MP Naresh Gujral tells Rahul Jacob and Archis Mohan
Her decision is being seen in the political circle as an outcome of the heightened tussle between the TMC and the BJP in West Bengal.
On the first day of winter session, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached out to the Opposition.
The debate on the Rafale jet fighter deal saw a head-on collision between the government and the Congress in Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, Bharatiya Janata Party ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw and Prahlad Singh Patel, as also former election commissioner Ashok Lavasa and poll strategist Prashant Kishor were among those whose phone numbers were listed as potential targets for hacking through an Israeli spyware sold only to the government agencies, an international media consortium reported on Monday.
Opposition's relentless demand for a debate on demonetisation under a rule which entails voting on Thursday forced the adjournment of the Lok Sabha
The insurance Bill seeks to increase the cap on shareholding of foreign investors
The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill 2017 seeks to criminalise instant divorce, triple talaq. The bill was passed in the Lok Sabha with most of the leading parties in the Opposition, including the Congress, voting in favour, but with caveats.
'Tell me, one BJP policy that Mamata has opposed and is fighting tooth and nail?' Be it Article 370, instant triple talaq, be it CAA/NRC/NPR, be it notebandi, FDI, she has aligned with the BJP.'
The Budget session of the 16th Lok Sabha will begin in the second week of July, revealed Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday.
Despite the Congress having nearly four times as many members in the Rajya Sabha as the TMC (48 to 13), Derek O'Brien has been informally leading the coordination of Opposition parties, rallying other parties to demand a discussion on electoral reforms and to protest the government's disinvestment plans, report Rahul Jacob and Archis Mohan.
Rejecting Rajya Sabha's five amendments and opposition's appeal not to make "haste", the Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed the legislation that aims at better targeting of subsidies through the Aadhaar unique identity number within hours of the Upper Housing returning it.
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.
At a rally on the occasion of the BJP's 38th Foundation Day, the BJP president expressed confidence that his party would win the 2019 polls, "not by giving hollow assurances but on the basis of work done by the Modi government".
Various opposition parties like the Congress, the Trinamool Congress, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the Nationalist Congress Party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Communist Party of India, and the Communist Party of India-Marxist raised vociferous protests in the upper house while opposing the resolution and the bill.
Announcing the cabinet decision, Union minister Prakash Javadekar also said the President, the Vice President, Governors of states have also voluntarily decided to take a pay cut as a social responsibility.
Violence has always been a fact of life in Bengal's politics; it is just that the faces have changed, the contesting ideologies have changed, says Saisuresh Sivawamy.
The Rajya Sabha on Tuesday passed a bill on protection of rights of transgenders after a motion to refer it to a Select Committee of the Upper House was defeated.
In August 2013, the Cabinet had given an in-principle nod to set up the authority and sent a draft note to the railways, to be discussed with the law ministry.
Amid noisy scenes, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad introduced the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill 2017 for discussion and passage, but pandemonium broke out in the Upper House with the opposition creating an uproar and the BJP countering it vociferously.
Trivedi's resignation came amidst the exodus from Mamata Banerjee's party ahead of the West Bengal assembly poll.
The message for 2024 is that the man on the street is not going to be euphoric if the G-20 crowns Modi as king-emperor for 2023, or if India sends its first man to space just ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. Even a 'temple consecration' in Ayodhya, or a Uniform Civil Code, or both of them together, may not have enough electoral purchase if fuel and commodity prices are not rolled back, and money-in-the-pocket does not fatten, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Bowing to opposition pressure, the government has agreed to refer the controversial Insurance Bill to a Select Committee of Parliament, which will have 15 members.
A united opposition on Monday cornered the government in Parliament, accusing it of focusing on issues like religious conversions instead of fulfilling promises of bringing back black money and creating jobs.
The Modi government is learning to deal with the reality that it does not have a majority in the Rajya Sabha.
Every party had been asked to give in their suggestions during the meeting.
Expecting fireworks in both Houses during the Winter Session of Parliament starting from Wednesday -- with the opposition planning to target the government on several issues, including demonetisation -- the Bharatiya Janata Party Parliamentary Party Executive will go into a huddle on Monday to chalk out strategy to counter the opposition which is divided over how to take on the government on the issue.
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