Page 15 - Opposition Parties

Congress writes to CEC, seeks time to share INDIA bloc's views on VVPATS

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh has written to Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, requesting that a team of INDIA bloc leaders are provided an opportunity to meet him and his colleagues to put forward their point of view on VVPATS. In his letter to Kumar, Ramesh said that on December 20, 2023, INDIA parties' leaders had requested for an appointment with the ECI to "discuss and provide suggestions on the use of VVPATs" based on a resolution passed at meeting of leaders of the bloc held the previous day. "We have been trying to meet with the ECI to hand over a copy of this resolution and have a discussion but have not been successful so far in doing so," he said. "I once again make a request for an opportunity for a 3-4 member team of INDIA party leaders to meet with you and your colleagues and take a few minutes to put forward our point of view on VVPATS," Ramesh said. In his letter dated December 30, 2023, the Congress general secretary also pointed out that on August 9,

Govt wants Oppn to behave like Bidhuri to avoid suspension: Derek O'Brien

Trinamool Congress MP Derek O'Brien on Tuesday said the government perhaps wants opposition members to behave like BJP lawmakers Ramesh Bidhuri and Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh -- both of whom are facing allegations of misconduct -- as 14 opposition MPs continue to remain suspended from Parliament. A hundred opposition MPs in the Lok Sabha and 46 in the Rajya Sabha were suspended during the recent Winter session of Parliament after they held protests in the two Houses to demand a discussion and a statement by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the December 13 security breach. In a post on X, O'Brien -- who was among the MPs to be suspended -- took a jibe at the government and mentioned Bidhuri, accused of using a communal slur in the Lok Sabha, and Singh, who is facing allegations of sexual harassment by six women wrestlers. The accusation against Bidhuri is being looked into by a privileges committee. "Two impeccably well-behaved Members of Parliament continue to grace the Lok Sabha --

Year in review: How India's political landscape transformed in 2023

With the end of another year, we take a look at the biggest headlines and stories from Indian politics that defined 2023

2023: Battle lines drawn in Indian politics and beyond - a year review

The Opposition bloc taking shape after a Congress push, BJP's sweep in the Hindi heartland, and suspension of MPs protesting over Parliament security breach set the stage for an intense 2024 showdown

Dhankhar-Kharge letter war: MPs suspension premeditated, alleges Cong chief

It was the mass suspension of MPs that was "premeditated" and "weaponised" by the ruling party to sabotage Parliamentary practices, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge alleged on Saturday, hitting back at Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar. Kharge was replying to a second letter on the disruption of parliamentary proceedings and the suspension of MPs by Vice President Dhankhar, who had alleged that the disorder by the Opposition in the House was deliberate and part of a strategy. In his letter on Saturday, Dhankar had also said, "We need to move ahead", and invited the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha for an interaction on December 25 "or a time of your convenience" at his official residence. The Congress president, in his reply, said that he agrees with the Chairman that they need to move ahead but stressed that the "answer may not lie in a discussion in the Chairman's chambers, if the government is not keen on running the House". The Congress chief said he is currently out of

BJP slams INDIA bloc over DMK MP's 'derogatory' remarks on Bihar workers

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

INDI Alliance set of leaders facing corruption charges: Anurag Thakur

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

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INDIA bloc leaders stage protest against bulk suspension of MPs from Parl

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'

RS chairman Dhankhar writes to LoP Kharge, says disruptions unfortunate

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 ...

INDIA bloc leaders to protest against suspension of MPs from Parliament

Earlier, Shashi Tharoor said that the moment has come to start writing 'obituaries for the Parliamentary democracy' in our country

India could soon be left without an organized political opposition

Just this week, more than 140 opposition lawmakers - two-thirds of the opposition's entire contingent - were suspended

Suspension of so many Oppn MPs unfortunate in Parliament's history: Gehlot

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.

Opposition holds protest against suspension of 143 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 .

INDIA bloc to hold protest march today over suspension of MPs from Parl

A total of 143 Opposition MPs have been suspended from both the Houses of Parliament over the past week

Why 141 Opposition MPs were suspended from parliament?

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 >

Mamata, Kejriwal suggest Cong chief Kharge as INDIA bloc's PM face

Cong chief rejects suggestion, says bloc should win first

They want to do politics in everything: Pralhad Joshi attacks Oppn parties

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

Kharge appoints 9 AICC Secretaries to coordinate 'Hai Taiyaar Hum' rally

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

Winter Session: Lok Sabha clears 3 key Bills as 49 more Oppn MPs suspended

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