The Left parties have given notices of breach of privilege against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in both Houses of Parliament on the issue of Indo-US nuclear deal.
CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta asked the government on Monday to reduce the tax burden on petroleum products and clubbed their consumption in the country.
The meeting saw archrivals TMC and CPI-M coming together on a common platform against the government.
When contacted, Communist Party of India-Marxist politburo member Sitaram Yechury and Communist Party of India national secretary D Raja declined immediate comment, saying they could raise the matter in Parliament.
'Two days notice for the Janata Curfew.' 'Two-and-a-half days notice for lighting candles, but a mere four-hour notice for the lockdown without taking state governments into confidence.'
Choosing the next Dalai Lama is too profound a tradition to be controlled by the Communists in Beijing.
Ahead of the meeting of the UPA-Left Committee on nuclear issues on Tuesday, the CPM on Monday made it clear that it would not allow the government to proceed on the Indo-US nuclear deal.
Naidu, a former BJP ally, said he will meet non-BJP political leader and convince them about the need to fight collectively against the BJP.
With almost all opposition parties too backing the 'Bharat bandh' and many announcing parallel protests in support of the farmers, the Centre has issued an advisory directing the states and Union Territories to tighten security and ensure peace is maintained.
"The WPI is not a true reflection of the burden put on the people through the rise in prices of essential commodities. It is a misnomer to use it as an index for measuring inflation," party leader Sitaram Yechury told reporters. Quoting the oft-repeated phrase 'statistics, more statistics and damned lies', he said the weightage of the basket of food items to calculate the WPI was 22 per cent as against that of steel products which was 25 per cent.
The country's premier B-school is all set to help MPs in effectively spend their grants so that maximum number of people can reap benefits. A group of students of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad has taken up a project to study the spendings and suggest changes for the Rs 2 crore (Rs 20 million) grant given each year to parliamentarians under the MP Local Area Development (MPLAD) scheme.
The CPI-M said that it would pull down the government if it 'falters' on foreign policy and 'succumbs' to US pressure. "If it falters, we will pull down the government. We cannot afford to be drawn into the strategic tie-ups. We will not permit the government to succumb to the US pressure," party leader Sitaram Yechury said.
Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, along with Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh, had a fifteen minute meeting with Karat at the CPI-M headquarters on Thursday morning.
Opposition leaders will also meet the Election Commission and raise the issue of tallying the paper trail of votes with the electronic voting machine figures as directed by the Supreme Court.
Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee and Rajya Sabha Chairman Bhairon Singh Shekhawat have been keeping a low profile, but their interest for the presidential nomination has been debated upon by the media.
To a question about stability of the government, he said, "Our agenda is the nuclear deal and the implications of the Hyde act on national sovereignty and interest."
Amid reports that government is determined to go ahead with the Indo-US nuclear deal, the CPI(M) on Thursday warned that the Left parties would review their support to it in such an eventuality. "They have time till June 25 (the next meeting of the UPA-Left Committee) and they have to make up their mind by then. If they go ahead, we will have to reconsider our support," CPI(M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury said.
The CBSE had announced that it had rationalised the syllabus for Classes 9 to 12 for the 2020-21 session by up to 30 per cent to make up for the academic loss caused due to COVID-19. However, it was the decision to drop topics related to Social Sciences which drew sharp reaction from opposition parties like the Congress, Left, Trinamool Congress, Nationalist Congress Party and Shiv Sena.
CPM general-secretary Prakash Karat had said that the government would have to face serious consequences if it went ahead with the nuclear deal.
"Our party will contest 16 seats. We appeal to all secular parties to support us. Elsewhere, we will support the strongest secular candidate against the BJP," party Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury said.
Top leaders of political parties were on Thursday briefed by the government about the surgical strike carried out by the army on terror launching pads across the Line of Control to foil plans of terrorists to target some Indian towns.
The government may scale down security of Kashmiri separatist leaders, who snubbed members of all-party delegation on Sunday.
"I am free... Hope others political leaders would be released soon. Thank all parliamentarians who fought for my freedom. Will be able to take decision on future only after other leaders are released," Abdullah, the Lok Sabha member from Srinagar, told reporters from the terrace of his residence in Srinagar.
Sitaram Yechury of the Communist Party of India-Marxist denied that the West Bengal government had anything to do with controversial Bangladeshi writer Talima Nasreen moving from her temporary residence in Kolkata to Jaipur.
CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat and Politburo members Sitaram Yechury, S Ramachandran Pillai and R Umanath are expected to attend the meeting on Saturday.
The CPI-M on Tuesday warned the UPA government at the Centre would "face the consequences" if it went ahead with the Indo-US nuclear deal. CPI-M politburo member Sitaram Yechuri said the outcome of the discussion between India and IAEA regarding the nuclear deal would be conveyed to Left parties by the government on March 17 at the Left-UPA Coordination Committee meeting.
"Our agenda is the nuclear deal and not the stability of the government or an early or late election. We are opposed to the deal because we think it is not in the interest of the country," CPI-M politburo member Sitaram Yechury told media persons in New Delhi. Whether government will go in for early elections is for them to decide, he said in reply to a question on the sidelines of the party Central Committee meeting in New Delhi.
Congress sources said the party will first discuss its choice of the Presidential nominee within the UPA and then consult the Left parties.
The committee, headed by Rajya Sabha MP Sitaram Yechury, recommended that caution should be taken to retain the original glory of the Taj which is turning yellow day by day.
The issue of lynchings resonated in the Rajya Sabha; while in the Lok Sabha, the Opposition accused the government of not being sensitive towards farmers' issues.
The ABVP on Friday demanded a fresh inquiry and sought an FIR against ASA and SFI leaders claiming that certain lines of Rohith's suicide note implicating them were struck off.
This time round, even 'petrol coupons' were reportedly distributed for those attending campaign rallies, especially those addressed by top leaders, cutting across party lines. If this owed to the rising cost of petrol and diesel -- which is a poll issue this time -- there were the customary coupons for 'quarter' (liquor bottle size) and non-vegetarian biryani. Some media reports claimed that some of these 'crowds' attended more than one political rally on the same day in the last week, and at times for rival political parties in adjoining constituencies or districts, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
In this year's budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman hiked tax on petrol and diesel, raised import duty on gold, levied additional surcharge on super rich and brought a tax on high value cash withdrawals as she sought to spur growth with reduction in corporate tax and sops to housing sector, startups and electric vehicles.
The Opposition parties also demanded stopping the use of pellet guns on protesters, even as one member demanded withdrawal of AFPSA from the Kashmir Valley and withdrawal of the dominating presence of army from civilian areas.
'Only when we show magnanimity and grace, give them the required respect and space, will they show the willingness to listen to us wholeheartedly,' says\nNCP leader Devi Prasad Tripathi.
A group of students carrying placards and raising slogans protested in the tense University campus on Wednesday morning.
Apparently not giving up hopes on persuading the Left on the Indo-US nuclear deal, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had said at the India-Brazil-South Africa summit on October 17 that the process of evolving a 'meaningful consensus is still on.'
Setting aside their bitterness, both within and outside Parliament, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi shook hands at a function to felicitate NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, who turned 75 on Thursday.
The chief minister said he has certain compulsions as a politician.
Sitaram Yechury, politburo member of CPM, on Friday warned the government against market volatility and FII activity.
