Proceedings of both Houses of Parliament were disrupted on Monday as the treasury benches accused top Congress leaders of colluding with billionaire investor George Soros to destabilise the country, triggering protests from opposition members.
A Bharatiya Janata Party leader, who the Trinamool Congress said is a brother-in-law of the saffron party's national vice-president Mukul Roy, rejoined the ruling party of West Bengal on Wednesday.
Vijayvargiya, who is also the BJP's Bengal minder, also said that he has received a call from Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who enquired about the party's poor show.
Eight persons died in the early hours of Tuesday after their houses caught fire at Rampurhat in Birbhum district, police said.
The government favours a probe into the alleged bribery charges against some of its MPs.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that her state would sever all ties with the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) for 'unilaterally releasing water', which led to floods in south Bengal districts.
What would Parliament be without these nine ladies?
A five-member delegation of TMC MPs, comprising Derek O'Brien, Satabdi Roy, Prasun Banerjee, Pratima Mondal and Md Nadimul Haque, also met the farmers there to support their protest against the new farm laws.
The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025 was passed in the Lok Sabha early Thursday, with 288 members supporting it and 232 against it.
"Last time I stood, I was not allowed to speak. The ruling party paid a very heavy price for throttling the voice of one MP," she said, referring to her suspension in the last session.
Raising the issue when the House met for the day, Derek O'Brien (TMC) said rule 255 was invoked by the Chairman Hamid Ansari on Monday, which his colleague Roy complied with.
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.
Rajya Sabha witnessed unruly scenes on Sunday as Opposition members stormed the well and reached the deputy chairman's seat to protest against the farm bills debated and passed by the Upper House through voice vote.
The chairman raised the issue of mimicry of the speaker and the chairman by an MP and the videography of the act, saying this was shameful and there has to be a limit.
Adhikari, the leader of the opposition in the West Bengal assembly, had also denied the meeting, saying that he had recently gone to Mehta's residence in Delhi regarding a case related to "post-poll violence" in the state but "could not meet him in person".
Trinamool Congress floor leader Derek O'Brien was suspended from the Upper House of Parliament on Tuesday for the remaining part of the Winter session after he threw a Rajya Sabha rule book at the Chair.
If the sanction is accorded, the four leaders might be named in the charge sheet.
The opposition parties, which have demanded the strictest action including suspension of Bidhuri for his "vile and communal" remarks during a discussion on the success of Chandrayaan-3 in Lok Sabha on Thursday, hit out at the BJP, alleging that it was trying to defend its MP instead of punishing him.
Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Derek O'Brien was suspended from the Rajya Sabha on Thursday for the remainder of the winter session of Parliament and the matter referred to the privileges committee as he did not leave the House even after repeated directions from Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar.
The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) parties, led by the Congress, staged a walkout from both Houses of Parliament on Wednesday, in protest against all states except two being 'ignored' in the budget, an allegation termed 'outrageous' by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharamanm, who said all the states never found a mention in any of the previous budgets, including those presented by the Congress.
A political row broke out on Tuesday after Trinamool Congress leader Kalyan Banerjee derisively mimicked Dhankhar during the opposition's protest on the stairs of Parliament against the MPs' suspension, drawing strong condemnation from the ruling BJP.
The joint committee of Parliament examining the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 has adopted its report on the bill with several opposition MPs, including those from the Congress, Ttrinamool Congress and Biju Janata Dal, submitting their dissent notes.
The Narada sting tapes, made public before the 2016 assembly elections in West Bengal, were claimed to have been shot in 2014, wherein people resembling TMC ministers, MPs and MLAs were allegedly seen receiving money from representatives of a fictitious company in lieu of promised favours.
'Most leaders, from Lalu Yadav and Mamata to M K Stalin, respect and trust Sonia. She should continue unless she expressly declines.'
Coincidentally, the two first-term members got seats adjacent to each other in the House.
Daily life was partially affected in West Bengal on Wednesday due to a 12-hour shutdown called by the Bharatiya Janata Party, protesting the police action against demonstrators during a march to the state secretariat.
Tharoor later apologised for offending 'some people' and said the 'whole selfie thing' was done at the women MPs' initiative in 'great good humour and it was they who asked me to tweet it in the same spirit'.
Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday alleged that Lalit Jha, the alleged mastermind in the Parliament security breach case, was associated with the youth wing of the Trinamool Congress.
Any erosion in the TMC, may benefit the BJP, reports Ishita Ayan Dutt.
Though the BJP failed in its effort to dislodge Banerjee from power, it's for the first time that it will be the main opposition party in the state assembly, rising from a measly three seats in 2016 to 77.
"In his 2 speeches will he tell us: Why has PM not answered a single question in Parliament?... Why are Opposition MPs denied basic rights: voting, discussion?" O'Brien said.
TMC and other opposition party members rushed into the well of the House as Vaishnaw was called to make a statement over the issue.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is likely to get a majority in the Rajya Sabha in April this year, once the remaining six vacancies under the nominated category are filled and those newly elected take oath.
'She could have sat down with the students and taken a list of their grievances including their allegations and suspicions.' 'Not all suspicions are true, but you have to listen, you have to let the steam come out.'
The protesting MPs did not accept the tea and snacks offered by the deputy chairman.
TMC ministers, leaders and activists hit the streets in the districts and blocks across the state to protest against the alleged assault on the eight-member TMC team at the Silchar airport on Thursday.
Embroiled in a battle for survival, Left parties marginally improved their performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, leading in eight to 10 seats according to vote counting trends.
MPs from 10 Opposition parties on Thursday wrote a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla saying that the situation at Ghazipur border was like that of India-Pakistan border and condition of farmers resembles prisoners in jail.
The Bharatiya Janata Party surprised many with its latest list of Lok Sabha candidates for West Bengal, nominating a protester from Sandeshkhali for the Basirhat constituency and changing the seats of its two incumbent MPs -- the party's former state chief Dilip Ghosh and ex-Union minister Debasree Chowdhury.
The INDIA bloc has 95 MPs in Rajya Sabha of which 45 were suspended on Monday.
