The opposition would push for the passage of the two bills -- the farmers' freedom from indebtedness bill and the farmers' right to guaranteed remunerative minimum support prices for agriculture commodities bill -- in the Rajya Sabha
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has announced his support for the contentious Women's Reservation Bill that will be tabled in the Rajya Sabha on Monday.His stance has taken those leaders fighting against the bill, including Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, Samajwadi Party chief Mulauyam Singh and his own party chief Janata Dal - United president Sharad Yadav, by surprise."I am in support of the Women's Reservation Bill in its present form," Nitish said.
Consensus emerged on the appointment of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge as the chairperson of the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), while Janata Dal-United chief Nitish Kumar's name was proposed for the convener's post, pending approval of parties absent at the alliance meeting on Saturday, according to sources.
Gandhi, then a newly appointed Congress chief, had staked claim to form the government at the Centre after the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had lost the vote of confidence in the Lok Sabha on April 17, 1999.
A meeting of Opposition parties, organised by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, will be held in Patna on June 23, his deputy Tejashwi Yadav said on Wednesday.
Opposition parties on Sunday lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party after Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar and eight others were inducted into the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government, saying the ruling party's 'washing machine' has resumed its operation to clean tainted leaders and it was an 'ED-facilitated power grab'.
Addressing the protesters, opposition leaders attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Janata Dal-United1 and demanded stringent punishment against those involved in such heinous crimes.
The 'mock Parliament' initiated by Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav and Janata Dal-United leader Sharad Yadav on the MP's salary hike issue last week has turned out to be a major irritation for Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, who is reportedly contemplating stepping down.
In a stunning blow to the BJP on Wednesday, the party lost bypolls to all the three Lok Sabha seats it contested, including its bastion Gorakhpur, and Phulpur in Uttar Pradesh, besides Araria in Bihar.
Janata Dal-United president Sharad Yadav has demanded that a case under 302 of Indian Penal Code (punishment for murder) should be filed against Vijay Mallya in connection with the suicide case of the wife of a Kingfisher Airlines employee.
The standoff over Women's Reservation Bill ended on Thursday with the government announcing that the proposed legislation would be brought in the Lok Sabha only after consultations with all sections.
According to a senior Congress leader, the constituents of the opposition alliance intend to move forward with the theme "Main Nahin, Hum (We, Not Me)" at the meeting.
Janata Dal-United on Monday gave first indications of parting ways with the National Democratic Alliance, saying it is "difficult" to remain in the alliance which is on "ventilator support" in the wake of resignation of L K Advani from top BJP posts and anointment of Narendra Modi as party's campaign committee chief for next Lok Sabha polls.
'Laluji personally telephoned several Opposition leaders to attend the meeting.'
Expressing disappointment with the Janata Dal (United) contemplating over ending its 18-year-old alliance, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rameshwar Prasad Chaurasia in an apparent attack on Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday said that his political outfit never betrays its partners.
Other members of the group are former prime minister Manmohan Singh, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Communist Party of India-Marxist chief Sitaram Yechury.
The road for the Opposition is full of 'ifs' and 'buts', reports Sunil Gatade.
The RJD is yet to complete its seat-sharing talks with smaller allies and the Left parties.
Several prominent opposition leaders including Nationalist Congress Party's Sharad Pawar, Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal-United leader Nitish Kumar and National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah will share the dais at a rally being organised by Indian National Lok Dal in Haryana's Fatehabad on Sunday.
Bhagwat, who had played a significant role in asking Advani to withdraw his resignation from key posts of the BJP last week, has decided to meet the latter despite him voicing grievance over Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's elevation as the BJP's 2014 poll panel chief.
Speculations are rife about a tie-up between the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Janata Dal- United after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar resigned following the severe drubbing his party suffered at the hands of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Lok Sabha polls.
In a bizarre promise to youths of Haryana ahead of the assembly polls this year, Bharatiya Janata Party leader O P Dhankar has said he will bring brides from Bihar for them if they are unable to find a match in the state infamous for its skewed sex ratio.
Tyagi said his party will contest on four to five "traditional" seats in Gujarat.
Mauled in the Lok Sabha elections and facing dissidence within, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar resigned on Saturday but interestingly did not seek dissolution of the assembly injecting a dramatic turn in the state politics.
'Nitish may take such a decision because he was the first person who was with the INDIA front.' 'He went back only because he did not get proper encouragement from the Congress.' 'Nitish will take a decision provided there is a strong alternative.' 'If he feels ours is a weak coalition, he will not come.' 'Then, this government will continue for five years.'
Will Hindus not vote for a Muslim candidate? Is that why such few Muslims are given tickets? Two constituencies in Mumbai break prevalent stereotypes about these difficult questions.
The meeting at Gandhi's 10 Janpath residence was seen as very crucial in forging an Opposition unity with efforts on to reconcile differences between the Congress and some regional parties that have been at loggerheads traditionally.
Deadlock on Monday continued on the issue of Congress alliance in Bihar for Lok Sabha polls with seat sharing with Rashtriya Janata Dal coming under strain and Janata Dal-United ruling out any adjustment with the party.
Nitish's absence triggered speculation of a logjam in the coming together of Janata Dal-United and RJD ahead of the crucial state election.
The stakes are significant for the BJP in this round as the party had in 2019 won an overwhelming majority of these seats, including all in Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, that will go to polls on May 7.
He will retain Chhapra, where he trounced BJP leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy.
Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari and senior party leader L K Advani would address NDA's public rally in Hyderabad on Thursday against the Central government, highlighting the issue of corruption.
The final phase of polling on Saturday will cover 78 constituencies spread across 19 north Bihar districts.
Janata Dal-United had not yet decided on Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's visit to Gujarat for campaigning for the Assembly polls, the party said.
Kumar was speaking to media persons at Patna airport on his arrival from New Delhi.
Rashtriya Janata Dal President Lalu Prasad on Thursday invited former Bihar chief minister Jiten Ram Manjhi, a known detractor of Nitish Kumar, to join the process of uniting parties against the Bharatiya Janata Party for the upcoming assembly polls in Bihar.
The leaders attacked the BJP, accusing it of trying to create "Hindu-Muslim disturbances" to benefit politically and making false claims and promises.
Kerala Chief Minister and CPI-M leader Pinarayi Vijayan, Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu, West Bengal CM and Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee, and Karnataka CM Kumaraswamy lent support to the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party government's fight with the Centre.
Against the backdrop of charges against Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra and realty major DLF, the Janata Dal-United on Thursday said the key issue of Foreign Direct Investment in multi-brand retail should not be forgotten in the din over other issues and suspected that those involved in coal and 2G scams may be trying to divert attention.
The former Congress president alleged that PM Modi had a "monopoly over corruption".
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