'Someone who cannot even take his cabinet into confidence, how will he take the NDA alliance into confidence?'
As the 240-seater prime minister attempts to moderate his image of hardline hero, he has made room for others to elbow in and that is what is happening. And that it what will continue to happen from inside the BJP, notes Aakar Patel.
The existing Parliament building will be conserved as it is an archaeological asset of the country.
The Lokpal directive came while deciding a complaint by BJP Lok Sabha member Nishikant Dubey alleging that Moitra had asked questions in the Lower House of Parliament in exchange for cash and gifts from Dubai-based businessman Darshan Hiranandani.
For the first time, large display screens and consoles for participation from galleries, ultraviolet germicidal irradiation, special cables between the two Houses and polycarbonate separators will be in place.
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The session will see 18 sittings without any weekend break or holiday, they said. The dates and other details of this first-of-its-kind session will be announced soon.
No sooner had the House paid its respects to the nine persons who laid down their lives 17 years back when terrorist attacked the Parliament House complex and the listed papers presented, members belonging to the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam trooped into the well of the House shouting slogans.
Johnson suspended, or prorogued, parliament for five weeks earlier this month, saying it was to allow for a Queen's Speech to outline policies of his new government.
Catch all the live debates from Parliament as the winter session begins
Catch all the live debates from Parliament as the winter session begins
Catch all the live debates from Parliament as the winter session begins
National Democratic Alliance nominee Om Birla was elected as Lok Sabha speaker on Wednesday after a motion moved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was adopted through voice vote, capping intense debate on the issue with the opposition in a rare move proposing its own candidate.
The productivity of the Budget session was abysmal. The Lok Sabha functioned for 33% of its scheduled time (46 hours); the Rajya Sabha 24% (32 hours).
Sheela Bhatt followed the celebration of 60 years of Parliament from the Central Hall's balcony. 'It was undoubtedly a privilege to participate in the historic function to mark the 60th anniversary of Parliament,' she says, 'but in the end there were no new ideals, ideas or hope added to democracy's great history.'
Signalling both change and continuity, India's new government, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a third consecutive term, got into work gear on Tuesday with cabinet ministers and ministers of state filing into their respective offices to assume charge.
The Opposition has decided to raise the issue of hacking of verified Twitter accounts of Rahul Gandhi and the Congress in both Houses.
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The Democrats have elected a set of state representatives who will act as an electoral panel. These representatives will have to pick someone else. This could be Vice President Kamala Harris, who is widely seen as a top contender, but is not popular, points out Aakar Patel.
He also said there are leaders who stand firm in their ideology but their number is gradually declining.
Modi told the leaders that Tomar was just a phone call away for protesting farmers and the agriculture minister had conveyed the same to farmer leaders earlier this month.
Wayanad will continue to support Rahul but not to the same extent as in 2019, when his margin of victory had been enormous. Articulate, to the point and speaking in fluent Malayalam, CPI's Annie Raja, had the people who gathered to see her, listening in rapt attention, notes Shyam G Menon.
Lok Sabha could function for only 45 hours this Budget Session against its scheduled 133.6 hours because of daily disruptions and frequent adjournments, a think tank data has shown.
Amid a slew of meetings with Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on Sunday said it would not interfere in the functioning of the BJP-led government at the Centre, dismissing suggestions that it was running the party through 'remote control'.
Speaking to the media ahead of the commencement of the 17th Lok Sabha, Modi said he is hopeful that this session will be productive.
'It is certain Jayalalithaa will be in no position to attend to official business.' 'Indeed, doctors would have forbidden anything that would aggravate her condition and lead to complications,' says B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant, advising how a Constitutional vacuum can be averted in Tamil Nadu.
A new entrant, whether a popular actor or not, has not been able to sweep the polls, as their fans had hoped for. Given a proven pattern, it should hold true for Vijay as well. Or, something drastically has to happen between now and 2026, asserts N Sathiya Moorthy.
India's new home needs all its family members to reside in it, he said. He said he believed in participatory democracy and hence call upon all opposition parties who have chosen to boycott the event to reconsider it.
'It seems that Modi ji has some hand in the EVMs'
The standoff between the government and the opposition in Parliament has showed no signs of easing after it erupted on the opening day of the Monsoon session on July 19.
Amidst repeated disruptions in Rajya Sabha by Congress members over Union Minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti's remarks, Bharatiya Janata Party MPs of the Upper House on Friday gathered before Mahatma Gandhi's statue in Parliament House complex praying for "wisdom" to the protesting members.
'Wherever in the world there is political instability, those countries are beset with severe crises today. But India is in a much better position than the rest of the world due to the decisions taken by my government in the national interest,' President Droupadi Murmu said in her address to both Houses of Parliament.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to re-examine its 1998 judgment granting MPs and MLAs immunity from prosecution for taking bribe to make a speech or vote in Parliament or state legislatures.
The avoidable stresses and strains in ties helped in one way. It showed for the entire region how a matured India handled diplomatic relations, especially with a smaller and suspicious neighbour, with practised dignity and patience, unruffled by provocations in word, deed and action, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
In a strongly worded statement, Kumar deplored the journalist-turned-politician's participation in a function where "even your Chairman, the Honourable Vice President, was not present".
'The larger story of systematic destruction, which can and has been quantified, goes mysteriously missing from any political and/or public discourse about the ongoing devastation in the Ghats,' notes Prem Panicker.
Speaker Joseph Michael Perera said Kumaratunga had no authority to prorogue Parliament without the concurrence of the legislature.
There is no mechanism for the people to intervene in the affairs of Parliament, to direct it to enact laws on particular subjects, to prevent it from passing certain other kind of laws. The People are supreme, not Parliament. But unfortunately, in India, the People do not have any control, whatsoever, on the functioning of Parliament, says Arvind Kejriwal. Exclusive to Rediff.com
Shah said the Opposition's 'irresponsible' conduct caused a loss of over Rs 333 crore of public money and the ruling National Democratic Alliance MPs' decision to forgo their salaries was a 'call of conscience'.
It's been 13 days that the Winter Session commenced, but no work has taken place as MPs continue to spar over the note ban.
