As nominations for Rajya Sabha biennial polls closed on Tuesday, a contest is on the cards in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana even as Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram are among those set to be elected to the Upper House.
The Opposition members on Monday strongly raised the issue of religious conversions, and a controversial statement made by Bharatiya Janata Party MP Yogi Adityanath on the Ayodhya issue and a report that government schools have been asked to observe Good Governance Day on Christmas Day, in the Rajya Sabha.
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.
The passing of the GST bill and the failure of India to acquire NSG membership is set to rule the agenda in Parliament.
'Now is the winter of our discontent,' said Richard, summing the emotions of most active Congressmen. But this winter seems chillier with senior party leaders not seeing eye-to-eye on how to muster up a consummate opposition in the parliament and is made bitter by the poor morale of the senior leaders who feel they are being sidelined by Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, says R Rajagopalan.
The Bill was supported by the members across party lines, however, some suggested to add in its purview hospital sanitary staff, ASHA (accredited social health activist) workers and 'Corona warriors' in emergency services such as police and personnel from other departments.
The government wants to introduce a nationwide goods and services tax to revive its stalled reform programme.
The reported meeting of a journalist considered close to yoga guru Ramdev, a staunch BJP supporter, with 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed generated heat in Parliament on Monday with Rajya Sabha witnessing two adjournments during Question Hour.
It alleged that Gujarat police abducted its MLA to influence the upcoming RS elections.
The Telugu Desam Party, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam continued to raise the issue of the dam over the River Cauvery and special status for Andhra Pradesh in both the Houses. While the Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day soon after it met at 11.00 am, the Lok Sabha saw repeated adjournments, but managed to pass the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill amid the din.
There is ambiguity as some top leaders are not comfortable about moving the motion.
Adamant on External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj's resignation, Congress forced three adjournments in pre-lunch session of Rajya Sabha
Congress members also vociferously pressed for a discussion on the Comptroller and Auditor General report.
Rajya Sabha on Thursday witnessed uproarious scenes with members from the Congress party lodging strong protest against eulogising of Nathuram Godse at a function held in Maharashtra earlier this month.
'I told Rahul: "You have to become president. Taalne se nahin hoga (you can't avoid the responsibility any longer)".' 'Rahul said: "I will think about it".'
Congress insists on Modi's apology for his claim that Manmohan Singh colluded with Pak to influence Guj polls.
In Rajya Sabha, the Opposition and the government clashed over technicalities of the passage of an anti-graft amendment bill with the latter insisting that it should be adopted without debate.
Aseem Chhabra lists his favorite 2023 films -- a healthy blend of Bollywood, Hindi indies and some of the best work that is being done in Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Bengali cinema.
Several opposition members, including from the Dravida Munnetra Kazagham and the Communist Party of India-Marxist, also pointed out that the government took almost two months to impose the lockdown after the first case came to light in January, and claimed the delay had proved costly.
The lower house has been witnessing daily disruptions since the winter session began last week. It had passed a bill on transgender rights on Monday.
Oppn also objected to the 'illegal disqualification" of rebel JD-U leaders Sharad Yadav and Ali Anwar Ansari.
While BJP members moved into aisles shouting slogans and demanding an apology from Azad, Congress members too rushed into the Well raising slogans demanding an apology from the prime minister.
The Bharatiya Janata Party plans to target Sonia Gandhi and other Congress leaders on the issue of bribes in the AgustaWestland chopper deal during the United Progressive Alliance regime
The Congress, the DMK, the RJD and the AAP were in the well of the house and continued to raise slogans against the government.
Questioning the freedom movement led by Gandhi, Hegde said it was an "adjustment" with the British.
The Income Tax raids on a Karnataka minister on Wednesday had its echo in Parliament where the protesting Congress members disrupted the proceedings
WhatsApp, last month, sued Israeli surveillance firm NSO Group, accusing it of helping those buying its spyware Pegasus break into the phones of roughly 1,400 users across four continents.
The Congress, however, said it wanted to see the final print on the wording of the dispute resolution mechanism before committing its support to the Bill
Amid a stalemate between the government and the Opposition over the issue, the House failed to transact any significant business and was adjourned for the day.
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.
For the bribe takers, the bill proposes to increase the punishment to a minimum of three years of imprisonment, which may extend to seven years, besides fine.
After launching a book on experiences of Naidu during his first year as vice president of India and chairman of Rajya Sabha, Modi said he always provides visionary leadership whenever he gets a responsibility.
The parties, including the Communist Party of India-Marxist, the Samajwadi Party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Trinamool Congress, said they will collectively oppose the Union home ministry's order issued on Thursday.
The National Democratic Alliance government's parliamentary managers have a busy weekend ahead, says Rediff.com contributor Anita Katyal.
The bill stipulates up to two-year jail term and a maximum fine of Rs 5 lakh for discriminating against differently-abled persons
'The central learning of the day was that if the BJP leadership can cajole, coax and convince regional parties to vote for bills, it would not be a stretch to see the same votes cast in favour of the land bill,' a senior Congress leader from a northern state told Rediff.com
The speaker said she was ready to start the debate right away if the House agreed. The debate has been listed in Monday's list of business under Rule 193.
Opposition parties in Parliament on Monday vociferously protested the "snooping" on Rahul Gandhi, with the government dismissing their contention saying they were making a "mountain out of what is not even a molehill", leading the Congress to walk out of Rajya Sabha.
Congress forced four adjournments of the proceedings in the RS over what it called as 'biggest scam of this century'.
Ahead of the budget session, PM Narendra Modi appealed to the opposition to allow Parliament to function. While his call was taken positively by most of the parties, the Congress signalled that disruption will be their main weapon to raise several issues.
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