The BJP on Sunday hit out at the INDIA bloc over DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran's alleged derogatory remarks on workers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, and said voters of the Hindi-speaking states will teach the opposition alliance a lesson in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The BJP reaction came after a video clip of an alleged derogatory remark made months ago by Maran surfaced on social media. In the video clip, Maran purportedly said that people in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar who had learnt "only Hindi", construct houses, clean roads and toilets in Tamil Nadu, after learning Tamil. "This is the scenario if Hindi is learnt." Reacting sharply to Maran's remarks, senior BJP leader and former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, "They should stop insulting (people of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh) like this". Labourers from Bihar go to Tamil Nadu for work "due to the situations created by their (DMK) ally Nitish Kumar in Bihar," Prasad alleged. "But if someone does labour, will you insult
Union minister Anurag Thakur on Saturday dubbed the opposition INDIA bloc as a set of leaders facing corruption charges with no common ideology or a political programme. Thakur, speaking to reporters here, also said the opposition coalition disrupted the Winter session of Parliament that concluded on Thursday out of frustration of their defeat in the recently held assembly elections. The senior BJP leader's remarks came a day after the INDIA alliance held nationwide demonstrations against the suspension of 146 MPs during the Winter session for unruly behaviour in demanding a statement from Home Minister Amit Shah on the Parliament security breach on December 13. "Where is the alliance? They are struggling in Punjab, they are struggling in other states. They can't speak in one voice. They are a set of people facing corruption charges and have come together," Thakur, the Information and Broadcasting Minister, said. "They do not have a common ideology, they do not have a common minimu
Catch all the latest updates from across the globe here
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, participating in the protest, said that the protest is send a message among people that whatever is happening is 'wrong for the future of the country'
Rendering the House dysfunctional by making a demand to the Chair that cannot be acceded is unfortunate and against public interest, Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar is learnt to have said in a letter to Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge. Dhankhar has written to Kharge stating that the Congress leader's refusal to meet him during the Winter session of Parliament was not in sync with parliamentary practices and has also sought an interaction with him, sources said on Friday. This comes a day after the Rajya Sabha was adjourned sine die on Thursday, a day ahead of schedule. The Upper House witnessed repeated protests by opposition MPs who were demanding a discussion on the December 13 Parliament security breach and a statement by Home Minister Amit Shah on the issue. The protests led to the suspension of 46 MPs from the House for the session. A breach of privilege notice was moved against Trinamool Congress MP Derek O'Brien and the matter was referred to the Privileges ...
Earlier, Shashi Tharoor said that the moment has come to start writing 'obituaries for the Parliamentary democracy' in our country
Just this week, more than 140 opposition lawmakers - two-thirds of the opposition's entire contingent - were suspended
Former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Thursday said the suspension of a large number of opposition members from both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha marked an unfortunate incident in the history of Parliament. "It is the responsibility of the Speaker to conduct the Lok Sabha fairly. If the Speaker had directed the Home Minister to give a statement in the House in a serious matter of lapse in the security of Parliament, then this matter would have ended and there would not have been so much uproar," the veteran Congress leader said on X. He added that the absence of a statement from the Centre on the issue and the suspension of opposition MPs instead of holding a discussion on the matter was an "unfortunate incident in the history of Parliament". The Rajasthan unit of the Congress will protest across the state on Friday against the suspension of the opposition MPs from Parliament.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday alleged that Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar had brought casteism to Parliament, after the Vice President had slammed a TMC leader's mimicry of him and called it an insult to his background as a farmer and Jat. Kharge made the remarks after opposition MPs marched to Vijay Chowk from Parliament to protest the suspension of 143 MPs from the House. The Congress president, flanked by MPs and leaders of INDIA bloc parties, alleged that it was a matter of breach of privilege of the House that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah had spoken outside Parliament while it was in session and did not apprise the House over the Lok Sabha security breach incident. We wanted to raise Parliament security breach issue as to why it happened and who is responsible, Kharge said. The opposition wanted to speak on the issue but Prime Minister Modi and Home minister Shah did not turn up, even as the PM continued to make speeches .
A total of 143 Opposition MPs have been suspended from both the Houses of Parliament over the past week
141 MPs from the Opposition INDIA group were suspended between Monday and Tuesday for protesting against Parliament security breach. Here's all you need to know >
Cong chief rejects suggestion, says bloc should win first
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi also reacted on the seat distribution of INDIA bloc and said that whatever happened in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Chhattisgarh, everyone saw
The AICC members include P.C. Vishnunadh, MLA, Qazi Nizamuddin, Sanjay Kapoor, Dheeraj Gurjar, Chandan Yadav, B.M. Sandeep, Chetan Chauhan, Pradeep Narwal and Abhishek Dutt
The Congress, which now has only nine MPs in the Lok Sabha that have not been suspended, termed it a "complete purge" to ensure the passage of "draconian bills" without any meaningful debate
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday proposed Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge's name as the prime ministerial candidate of opposition bloc INDIA, but the veteran Congress leader said it is important to win first and everything else can be decided later. Sources, however, said there was no final decision on the issue. After his name was proposed as a candidate to become the country's first Dalit prime minister at a meeting attended by 28 opposition leaders here, Kharge said, "I work for the downtrodden. Let's win first, then we will see. I don't seek anything." MDMK leader Vaiko said after the meeting that Kharge's name was proposed by Banerjee and Kejriwal.
A crucial meeting of the opposition INDIA bloc began in the national capital on Tuesday where top leaders were discussing the way forward, including seat-sharing, for taking on the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The issue of suspension of 141 opposition MPs in both Houses of Parliament came up at the meeting with leaders cutting across party lines condemning the action against the members. "The leaders asserted that they will continue to fight against the tyranny of this government," a source said. Harping on putting up a united front, the Congress alleged that democracy is being "mercilessly murdered" and MPs who raise people's issues are suspended from the House. "In such an adverse situation, our unity is our strength," the party posted on X after the meeting began. The opposition leaders are deliberating on a blueprint for a joint campaign, seat-sharing arrangement and redrawing their strategy after the Congress suffered a setback in the recent assembly polls, where BJP
Posters calling for assigning Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar a big role in national politics were seen in several parts of the state capital on Tuesday when the JD(U) leader was away in Delhi to attend a crucial meeting of INDIA bloc. The JD(U) came out with a quick clarification that it had nothing to do with the posters, wary of upsetting the supreme leader who has been at pains to assert that his efforts at forging opposition unity were not guided by personal ambitions. Ally RJD, on its part, made it clear that the primary goal was to defeat BJP in Lok Sabha polls and if, in the process, the CM landed the top job, it would be "a matter of pride for Bihar". "It is not known who has put out the posters. But its message of 'nishchay' (resolve) is something none can find fault with", said JD(U) chief spokesman and MLC Neeraj Kumar. He was reacting to the posters with two images of Kumar, one taken from the side and the other from behind with a pithy Hindi slogan "agar sach mein .
Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal brought the motion to suspend the members
The "inappropriate behaviour" of some opposition MPs led to their suspension from Parliament and the country would not benefit from their "negative politics", Union minister Bhupender Yadav said Tuesday. Yadav urged the suspended members to reflect upon their actions. In an unprecedented move, 78 opposition MPs were suspended from Parliament on Monday, the highest number of suspensions in a single day, drawing sharp criticism from the Congress and other parties that accused the BJP government of trying to bulldoze key legislations in an "Opposition-less" Parliament. An additional 49 Lok Sabha members were suspended on Tuesday for disrupting House proceedings. INDIA bloc MPs have been demanding a statement from Home Minister Amit Shah on the security breach in Parliament on December 13. "Their inappropriate behaviour led to their suspension. The new Parliament calls for new traditions and a clean way (of functioning). We aim to address questions from all members and seek everyone's