RS likely to pass GST Bill this week

This is the week when the GST Constitution amendment Bill should be passed by the Rajya Sabha. The Congress has now said it will support the Bill. Who will oppose it? Should we anticipate a crisis? If things go the government way, the Bill will come up in the first half of the week.

Report on AAP MP likely this week
Last week, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Member of Parliament Bhagwant Mann filmed a video clip of his journey from his residence to Parliament and shared it on social media. In the video, Mann had filmed sensitive security areas in Parliament. For this, he came under severe criticism from Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and other political leaders. The Speaker also barred him from attending Parliament until a panel investigating his security-breach video submits its report. The nine-member panel is expected to submit its report by Tuesday. This will come up for discussion this week, possibly on Monday.

Rajnath Singh in Pakistan

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh is in Pakistan to attend a meeting of home ministers of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) countries. He left on Sunday and the substantive discussions will be held on Monday. Singh is expected to raise the issue of cross-border terrorism. At the 13th Saarc Summit in Dhaka in November 2005, the heads of state decided that home ministers would meet annually, preceded by a meeting of home secretaries, to strengthen cooperation in counter-terrorism. The first meeting of Saarc home ministers was held in Dhaka on May 11, 2006, followed by a meeting in New Delhi in 2007.

The Islamabad meeting comes amid a virtual shutdown of Kashmir after the killing of Burhan Wani, a Hizbul Mujahideen militant. Earlier this week, in a statement in Parliament, Singh had squarely blamed Pakistan for the disturbances in Kashmir.

This is the first visit to Pakistan by senior Indian minister after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Lahore trip in December last year.

Rahul Gandhi attacks Parrikar, RSS
The Congress on Sunday mounted a fierce attack on Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and RSS over his jibe at actor Aamir Khan for remarks on intolerance with Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi (pictured) saying "hate is the preserve of the coward and it never wins." The main opposition party also accused BJP and RSS of a "concerted conspiracy" to hound Dalits, minorities, writers, actors and whoever dissents against the Modi government and wondered whether Parrikar's job is to protect India from external aggressors like Pakistan or threaten fellow countrymen. "RSS & Parrikarji want to teach everyone a lesson. Here's a lesson for you: hate is the preserve of the coward and it never wins," Gandhi said on Twitter. Parrikar had on Saturday said anyone speaking against the country must be "taught a lesson".

Modi has lost mental balance: AAP
After the arrest of its Narela MLA Sharad Chauhan, 12th AAP legislator to be arrested by police, the AAP on Sunday launched a sharp attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking whether he (PM) has lost his "mental balance" and wondered whether the country is "safe" in the hands of a person who acts with such "vengeance". AAP's Ashish Khetan alleged the PM spends his every waking moment in plotting the 'fixing' of all his political opponents. He further alleged Modi appears to be concerned only with political persecution.

Swaraj Abhiyan political party by Oct 2

Swaraj Abhiyan leaders Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan on Sunday announced launching of a political party by October 2 to provide an "alternative political vehicle" even as they hit out at AAP, saying it has a "supremo" culture. The political party will be launched by October 2 and a six-member committee has been formed for this purpose, Yadav said.