A constitutional amendment bill to restore the powers of the states to make their own OBC lists was passed by Parliament on Wednesday, with the opposition and treasury benches joining hands in the Rajya Sabha to approve the legislation.
While Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi greeted him on the occasion, NCP's Praful Patel blamed the Congress party's internal culture for Pawar missing the opportunity to occupy the top post in the 1990s.
The Congress top brass staged a dharna in Parliament for the 2nd day in protest against suspension of its MPs.
Another tension is brewing for the Congress just before the winter session of the Parliament, this time from Andhra Pradesh.
"I rise in deep anguish to place on record the way this august House is being subjected to sacrilege and that too propelled by a sense of competition among some sections of the House since the commencement of this monsoon session," the Rajya Sabha chairman said.
Chowdhury's pickpocket remark, which was meant to criticise the government's move to suspend the Congress members, left many party MPs visibly embarrassed and many others in splits.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday said that the government would talk to its allies on the issue of fuel price hike but gave enough hints that a rollback would be difficult.
If the prime minister does not repeal these laws, the country will suffer, he said.
Raising the issue of setting afire of a rape survivor in Uttar Praesh's Unnao during Zero Hour, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said while on the one hand plans are afoot to build a Ram temple (in Ayodhya), on the other hand Sita is being burnt.
The eight members -- distributed among the Congress, Communist Party of India-Marxist, Trinamool Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party -- were suspended earlier in the day for the remainder of the Monsoon Session over their 'unruly behaviour' during the passage of farm Bills in the Upper House of Parliament.
Catch all the action from the Monsoon session of Parliament, LIVE
Congress MPs approach PM to protest against Chidambaram's public remarks on blaming Mukherjee for economic crisis.
What happened in India in the week gone by? Here's the top stories that captured India's attention in the week gone by.
After the accident on Friday, Virudhunagar MP Manickam Tagore, Ludhiana MP Ravneet Singh Bittu and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor alleged on Twitter that there were safety lapses on the part of the civil aviation ministry.
Congress MPs Sanjay Nirupam and Priya Dutt on Monday led a protest morcha outside the Reliance Energy office in suburban Kandivli, seeking reduction in power tariffs in the metropolis.
Treasury and opposition members nearly came to blows in Lok Sabha on Friday when Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan condemned in "no uncertain words" the "outlandish" remarks made by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Nitin Gadkari has a message as much for his party as much purportedly it is for the Opposition. Listening to him, whatever be his reasons and motives, will help, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan has written to all MPs appealing to them to maintain discipline and decorum of the House and refrain from rushing to the well.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not respect farmers and wants to tire out those protesting against the Centre's new agriculture laws, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged.
So far, the maximum 83 deaths have taken place in Tarn Taran district, followed by 14 in Batala and 13 in Amritsar. The tragedy has been unfolding since Wednesday evening in the three districts.
The move came a day after Parliament approved two agriculture sector-reform bills which have been bitterly opposed by the opposition parties like Congress and TMC.
With 200 MPs out of 785 above the age of 65, there is a serious shadow of COVID-19 looming over the monsoon session Of Parliament.
The no-confidence notice moved by 6 Congress parliamentarians against the UPA government on the Telangana issue has found favour with 84 more Seema-Andhra leaders.
The former finance minister, who walked out of jail on Wednesday night, joined other Congress MPs voicing their protest against the steep hike in onion prices.
"This is a big scam. The country is being looted. Please allow us to speak," Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said.
Snooping is one of the oldest peccadilloes of man, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Facing flak over his pepper spray attack in Lok Sabha during introduction of the Telangana Bill, Seemandhra MP L Rajagopal on Friday regretted the act, but maintained that he had done it in self defence.
Gandhi met the president and handed over a memorandum signed by two crore farmers demanding a repeal of the laws, saying they will not benefit farmers or labourers.
Catch all the action from the Monsoon session of Parliament, LIVE
Catch all the action from the Monsoon session of Parliament, LIVE
Union Home Secretary R K Singh and Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar will face tough questions on Thursday from the members of the Standing Committee on Union Ministry of Home Affairs headed by Bharatiya Janata Party leader M Venkaiah Naidu.
It is significant that the matter has not been listed before the judges who are number two to five in the seniority.
Seeking to exert pressure on the Centre, Congress MPs from Tamil Nadu on Friday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanding that India join western countries like the United States in bringing a resolution against Sri Lanka at the UNHRC over the alleged human rights violations during the war.
"Horse trading band karo (Stop horse trading of MLAs)," Congress members shouted from the well.
"We are actually shocked. The prime minister did not even take into confidence chief ministers of Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, who are directly affected. Here is another show of arrogance of this government," Gandhi told media persons.
Congress MPs from Telangana have threatened to send their resignations to Speaker Meira Kumar if urgent steps were not taken for formation of a separate state.
Amid mounting pressure, Congress on Wednesday said it was not against formation of Telangana, signalling that a decision on the vexed issue of a separate state has been put on the fast-track.
Congress MPs from Telangana region on Friday welcomed the Centre's announcement that a decision on the contentious issue would be taken in a month, claiming that this shows a separate state would become a reality soon.
As part of their ongoing campaign for the July 19 Presidential election, United Progressive Alliance nominee Pranab Mukherjee and his rival P A Sangma will be separately visiting Gujarat in next couple of days.
The repression let loose by the government and the police against the Telangana supporters to stop them from participating in "Sagara Haaram" program has left the Telangana Congress ministers and MPs very angry and upset and some of them have started talking in terms of tendering their resignations.
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