The West Bengal Congress unit issued a denial and said the state president meant "TMC and BJP are just the opposite sides of the same coin as both are venomous and spread lies".
While seven of the suspended MPs belonged to the TMC, six were from the DMK, three from the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, two from the Communist Party of India-Marxist and one from the Communist Party of India.
The government may drop the clause on setting up of a Lokayukta in states in the Lokpal Bill to bring some opposition parties as also allies like Trinamool Congress on board.
A Trinamool Congress legislator on Sunday threatened to not support any bill tabled by the government in the West Bengal Assembly in the future and abstain from voting in the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls in the state if 'atrocities' on his loyalists allegedly by a rival faction continued, even as the Bharatiya Janata Party said the collapse of the Mamata Banerjee government was just a matter of time.
Jaitley, the first Union minister to meet Jaya since her conviction, manages to secure the AIADMK's conditional support to the government's crucial legislations in the Rajya Sabha.
Describing the meeting as 'positive', Banerjee said she discussed the political situation in the country as well as opposition unity with the Gandhis.
"I have already said whatever I have had to say. Now the government has to decide. Mukul Roy will be our candidate for the Railway minister," Mamata said during the filing of nominations for Rajya Sabha elections by Roy, the Union minister of state for Shipping, and three others.
The results of the assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh are also likely to play out during the start of the session.
Gopalkrishna Gandhi could only manage 244 votes.
The Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday targetted each other in Parliament, leading to clashes and walkouts. The TMC displayed in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha the copies of some red diary, allegedly recovered from Sahara group chief Subrata Roy, and claimed that it contained the name of a BJP leader.
As the elections appear closer, the nervousness in the Congress party has become more visible. Each one is frantically concerned about his own position rather than wanting the Congress party to get ready for a spirited fight.
Alleging that a Union minister was openly supporting Maoists, the Left and the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday joined hands in the Rajya Sabha to slam Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee for her controversial remarks on the killing of Maoist leader Azad
Some constituents of the alliance have raised concern that the panels, particularly the 14-member coordination committee, are at risk of becoming ineffective, as their decisions have so far not been acted upon.
The government on Monday said it was willing to discuss every issue under rules during the Budget session of Parliament and sought the support of the Opposition in running the proceedings smoothly.
Addressing a press conference, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said efforts are being made since the last few days that a 'formula' or middle path is found with both the Opposition and the government relenting.
The opposition parties are seeking the President's intervention in the matter, claiming that violence in the BJP-ruled northeastern state is continuing unabated.
"We do not have tanks there, but we have people there going to farmers' houses and beating them up and threatening to kill them."
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will make a statement in Parliament on December 14 on the recent developments in India-Pakistan relations.
The government's agenda also includes the Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021.
Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha leader Derek O' Brien met the agitating farmers at the Singhu border in the afternoon.
Urging the government not to enact a law against the interest of states, Communist Party of India - Marxist lawmaker Sitaram Yechury on Thursday accused the corporates of funding elections, and said that the graft cannot be tackled without including India Inc under the review of Lokpal.
The Congress, Trinamool Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazagham and other opposition parties had wanted to raise several issues in the Upper House but Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu did not allow them and adjourned the House till 2 pm. After the Chair did not allow them again when the House met, they boycotted it for the rest of the day.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was an experienced leader and it would be great if a proposal came to make him the convenor of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), his deputy Tejashwi Yadav said on Wednesday.
Jha will contest against National democratic Alliance's nominee Harivansh of the Janata Dal-United.
The Aam Aadmi Party supremo is trying to drum up opposition support over the Delhi government's fight against the Centre over an ordinance on the control of administrative services in the national capital.
Congress is riven by four different approaches to an issue: the Sonia Gandhi way, the Rahul Gandhi method, Lok Sabha MPs' tactic, and Rajya Sabha MPs' style, reports R Rajagopalan.
Among the notable absentees were Congress president Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's M K Stalin, Telugu Desam Party chief K Chandrashekhar Rao, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and Delhi chief minister and Aam Admi Party convenor Arvind Kejriwal.
With the Biju Janata Dal backing the National Democratic Alliance's presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu, the vote share of the ruling dispensation has now crossed 50 percent, virtually paving the way for her election as the first tribal President and the youngest too.
"The conduct of opposition leaders in the Upper House of Parliament on Sunday was shameful, irresponsible and utter disrespect to parliamentary rules and dignity," Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
Members from parties like the Congress, the Trinamool Congress, the Left parties and the Rashtriya Janata Dal created uproar in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha as soon as the Houses met for the day.
The outrage over the Mumbai gang rape of a young photojournalist resonated in Lok Sabha on Saturday with members voicing concern that such incidents continue despite laws being made stringent, a view shared by the government.
The ongoing row over the UPSC issue saw disruption of Parliamentary proceedings on Tuesday as opposition parties demanded a statement from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a joint parliamentary committee to look into the matter besides a discussion on it.
Election will be held in 60 out of the total 294 seats in the first two phases of the eight-phased polls which is slated to stretch from March 27 to April 29. The date for the second phase of election is April 1.
'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.
The session is likely to see the proceedings of Parliament move from the old building to the new Parliament building.
The MPs representing various political parties offered heartfelt tributes to the building that has been the epicentre of India's democratic journey.
'This is a humanitarian visit. This is a visit to stand with the grieving families. We hope to reach Tinsukia in about two hours and spend some time with the families'
The Congress may get chairmanship of the prestigious Public Accounts of Committee but still there is no guarantee whether it will get the post of Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
Proceedings in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were disrupted as Opposition members raised slogans demanding a discussion and a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the fraud-allegation-triggered rout.
The Congress how could the prime minister make such allegations when the defence minister had not stated this in his reply to debates on the controversy in both Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha last week and sought to know which court was Modi quoting.
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