The assembly bypolls in Bihar and Maharashtra, scheduled for November 3, are set to be the first electoral test of the popularity of the respective state governments after a change in the political alignment.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday effected a major reshuffle in his three-year-old ministry inducting 12 fresh faces into his new team of 21 ministers.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's victory in the assembly polls on Thursday has put the party on a stronger wicket for the election for the post of President expected later this year.
Patnaik has continued his grip over Odisha with his party, the BJD, winning 112 assembly seats in the 147-member House.
The fight would become more interesting as both candidates hail from Bihar, where the assembly elections are to be held soon, making it effectively a JD-U versus RJD contest.
The session will commence with the maiden address of President Droupadi Murmu to the joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament. The address essentially highlights the government's achievements and policy priorities.
Move the pointer on the sentiment meter (depending on who you think will get more votes) towards the political parties to see how the outcome is likely to change.
The Rajya Sabha proceeding washed out completely on Wednesday and was adjourned for the day amid continued protest by the Opposition parties led by the Congress over price rise and levy of Goods and Services Tax (GST) on daily essentials.
Nearly 4,800 elected MPs and MLAs will vote on Monday to elect the 15th President of India, with National Democratic Alliance candidate Droupadi Murmu having a clear edge over Opposition's Yashwant Sinha as over 60 per cent votes are expected to be cast in her favour.
Ahead of the monsoon session of Parliament, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Saturday sought cooperation of all parties for the smooth conduct of proceedings with "decency, dignity and discipline", even as the Opposition demanded discussion on the Agnipath scheme, unemployment and farmers' issues.
Left parties were on Tuesday joined by the Biju Janata Dal, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Samajwadi Party and the Telugu Desam Party in the Parliament in their protest against the government's 'inaction' in checking rising prices of foodgrain and other essential items.
Rampur Sadar and Khatauli in Uttar Pradesh, Padampur in Odisha, Sardarshahar in Rajasthan, Kurhani in Bihar and Bhanupratappur in Chhattisgarh are the assembly seats where the bypolls are being held.
Parliamentary standing committee on labour, led by Biju Janata Dal MP Bhartruhari Mahtab, has said in its report that it is unjustifiable for owners to pay workers' wages during natural calamities.
The grand old party faces the onerous task of rebuilding its moribund organisation, which is struggling to overcome a leadership crisis and regain credibility with the voters.
A basic outline and roadmap for Opposition unity are likely to be deliberated upon with the contentious issue of seat sharing and leadership questions to be avoided for now.
The Congress needs to reorganise itself at the grassroots, infuse younger blood, and have more boots on the ground. Just offering freebies is not the answer anymore. Leadership matters, asserts Ramesh Menon.
Seeking justice for the victims of 1984 anti-Sikh riots, leaders of various political parties on Wednesday met President Pranab Mukherjee and sought his intervention in directing the government to order a Supreme Court-monitored Special Investigation Team probe into the violence.
Opposition and members of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in the Joint Parliamentary Committee on 2G on Wednesday demanded the ouster of chairperson P C Chacko for being "highly partisan" and asked Speaker Meira Kumar to replace him with a new chief. The JPC has 30 members, including Chacko.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam sponsored Tamil Eelam Supporters Organisation conference in Delhi was a dud with major opposition parties like the Janata Dal-United, Biju Janata Dal and Bharatiya Janata Party staying away.
The video conference comes amidst indications that the central government may extend the lockdown across the country beyond April 14 after several states have favoured the extension to contain the fast-spreading virus.
A group of Indian MPs underwent a crash course at the prestigious Yale University of the United States, which was specially tailored for them incorporating issues like global economic governance, counter-insurgency efforts in Afghanistan and political developments in the Middle East.
The bypolls were conducted for two Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh, one each in Meghalaya and Odisha and the Jalandhar Lok Sabha constituency in Punjab.
Unable to persuade former Odisha law minister and dowry torture accused Raghunath Mohanty to surrender, the ruling Biju Janata Dal on Friday asked him to respect the law of the land or face consequences. "Through the media, I will like to request Raghunath Mohanty to cooperate with the law before the matter gets more complicated," government Deputy Whip Sanjay Dasburma told reporters.
The latest trend issued by the State Election Commission showed the BJD had already won or was leading in 762 Zilla Parishad seats, as compared to BJP's 46 and Congress's 36 seats.
Around 100 people including policemen were injured, as Congress workers protesting against the Biju Janata Dal government on Thursday tried to gherao the Odisha Assembly.
Director General of Police Prakash Mishra claimed that nearly 60 policemen were injured in stone-throwing and violence by the rallyists but was unable to give the exact number of demonstrators who sustained injuries
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday became president of the ruling Biju Janata Dal for the fifth consecutive time unopposed.
The ruling Biju Janata Dal in Odisha on Sunday announced that it would abstain from voting in the vice-presidential election scheduled to be held on August 7.
The 51-year-old BJP leader Vaishnaw, born in Rajasthan's Jodhpur, is a suave and former Odisha cadre IAS officer from the 1994 batch. He managed to wrangle support from the ruling BJD president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik despite being in the rival camp.
Accusing United Progtressive Alliance's Presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee of 'manipulating' his resignation from chairmanship of Indian Statistical Institute, the ruling Biju Janata Dal in Odisha today hit the streets holding Union Minister Srikant Jena responsible for doing it on back date.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has designated party general secretary Ananth Kumar and senior leader S S Ahluwalia to assist P A Sangma in the Presidential election management.
P A Sangma, the Opposition candidate for the Presidential poll, on Thursday filed his nomination papers in the presence of leaders from the Bharatiya Janata Party, some National Democratic Alliance allies, Biju Janata Dal, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, northeast states and tribal legislators in New Delhi.
A day after losing the battle with the United Progressive Alliance government in Parliament on the issue of allowing foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail, the National Democratic Alliance has threatened to reject the Union government's notification if it is voted to power in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
Cutting short his United Kingdom visit after reports of revolt in the party in his absence, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday held a series of meetings with Biju Janata Dal leaders, some of whom claimed there was an attempt to topple the government during a meeting at party MP Pyari Mohan Mohapatra's house in Bhubaneswar.
Shortly after reaching the national capital, Naveen Patnaik held deliberations with party MPs Baijayant Panda and Pinaki Mishra and said he would also consult his party members after reaching Bhubaneswar in the evening. "I will certainly see what has to be done," he said
By almost unilaterally announcing her party's support for the candidature of former Lok Sabha Speaker P A Sangma for the President's post, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary J Jayalalithaa has queered the pitch and made it that much more difficult the search for a common opposition candidate.
With the Biju Janata Dal and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam indicating their preference for P A Sangma as presidential candidate, the Nationalist Congress Party leader on Thursday thanked them saying they have been responsive to the aspirations of tribals and appealed to other parties to support a candidate from the community.
In 2002, Naveen Patnaik recommended cancellation of a coal block allotted to a south-based company and allotment of the same block to the Jindals, that too for the setting up of a sponge iron plant. What was the urgency and consideration for this,' asks Pyarimohan Mohapatra
In a bid to suppress dissidence, Biju Janata Dal supremo and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday suspended Jagneswar from the regional outfit on charge of anti-party activities.
With the fate of kidnapped Jhina Hikaka still unknown after almost three weeks the Odisha government is exploring back-channel negotiations with the Maoist group, which has imposed tough conditions for the release of the ruling Biju Janata Dal tribal member of Legislative Assembly Jhina Hikaka.
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