Mamata Banerjee's opposition to the Congress's Lokpal Bill was not a stand-alone event. Her unrelenting stand on FDI and other reform measures of the government are signs of a failing relationship, says Neerja Chowdhury.
He served as an effective link between the party and government during the two terms of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) between 2004 and 2014. As political secretary to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, he had access to leadership that no other leader in the party had and worked the channels to work out various issues.
The panel will likely play an important role as the Personal Data Protection Bill gets tabled in Parliament.
The party brought back Yashwant Sinha as its national vice-president.
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.
The controversy over allowing FDI in retail rocked Parliament for the third day on Tuesday with a united opposition forcing adjournment of both the Houses till noon. Shortly after the Lok Sabha met for the day, members rushed to the Well, demanding rollback of the decision to allow FDI in the retail sector. Members of Trinamool Congress, a key partner of the United Progressive Alliance, kept shouting 'Cancel FDI in retail'.
Amid a massive ruckus after the suspension order, the Rajya Sabha was adjourned.
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.
There will be no Question Hour and private members' bills will not be taken up in the Monsoon session, while the Zero Hour will be restricted.
Trinamool members trooped into well of the House immediately after the upper House assembled.
Another meeting convened by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge at his residence in New Delhi on Wednesday with the floor leaders of the INDIA constituents in Parliament will, however, go ahead according to its schedule to formulate the opposition strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Several opposition leaders on Sunday criticised the bill on the appointment and service conditions of the chief election commissioner and election commissioners at an all-party meeting as "anti-Constitution" and "anti-democratic", sources said.
During the debate on the 'Motion of Thanks on the President's Address', Leader of the House Piyush Goyal and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman strongly objected to 'insinuations' against the prime minister, who was also present in the House.
In a meeting with the President on behalf of these 18 non-National Democratic Alliance parties, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad said he has requested the President to return the bills, and only give his assent after they have been passed after following proper rules and procedures.
The standoff in Parliament over remarks of Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Mani Shankar Aiyar against Opposition ended on Wednesday with the Trinamool Congress member being reprimanded by Speaker and Aiyar expressing regrets.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday termed the cancellation of over 25,000 school jobs as 'gross injustice' and alleged that it was a ploy by the Bharatiya Janata Party to stop these job losers from being deployed in poll duty.
The National Judicial Commission Bill, 2022, was introduced after the majority of voice votes were in its favour.
In a tweet, Ganguly said the law should take its own course.
'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'
Mitra was the editor of The Pioneer newspaper and was considered a respected voice on a variety of issues, ranging from politics to popular music, before poor health kept him out of the public eye for some time.
He interrupted his speech to observe a minute's silence in the House along with other Opposition leaders, mainly the Congress, to pay tribute to farmers who had lost their lives during the two month agitation.
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.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will make a statement in Parliament on December 14 on the recent developments in India-Pakistan relations.
The opposition strategy seems to be to get these amendments incorporated into the final bill that will then be put to vote. This will mean that the Congress may be forced to vote against the final bill, since it may not be in agreement with some of the amendments forced by the opposition.
"We are confident that the people of Goa have given us a clear, simple majority. I am more confident today than I was, say last week, because I have spoken to every candidate," Chidambaram told NDTV.
'If the BJP thinks it is going to overnight transform Bengal into Madhya Pradesh, sorry, that's not going to happen because I have faith in our ethos and culture.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday assured at the all-party meeting that the government is ready to discuss all issues.
Series of controversies related to Dalit issues have come at a time when the BJP has launched a massive campaign to win back Uttar Pradesh.
Another all-party meeting will attempt to resolve political concerns about the Land Reforms Bill.
The opposition parties did not yield, and the Chairman adjourned proceedings for the day
Kunal Ghosh, who was also the chief executive officer of Saradha Group's media arm, was arrested on November 23 last by Bidhannagar Police.
The legislation was passed by 125 votes in favour and 61 against.
Chakraborty, an ardent trade unionist and a former Rajya Sabha member, was admitted to the hospital after he tested positive for COVID-19 on July 30.
During the meeting, the parties also decided to unitedly move forward in fielding a joint candidate for the post of deputy chairman of Rajya Sabha, which fell vacant after the retirement of P J Kurien on July 1.
The second leg of the budget session is of 23 days and all 14 days so far have been wasted.
Opposition National Democratic Alliance and estranged United Progressive Alliance ally Trinamool Congress on Friday criticised the decision to allow Foreign Direct Investment in multi-brand retail, saying government has surrendered to crony capitalism and feared that the policy will spell doom for farmers and small traders.
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.
"I am very excited about joining the TMC. I will work for the development of Bengal," he said.
A united opposition is all set to corner the government in Parliament today on the banning of old notes.
The Gujarat elections will be held on December 9 and 14.
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