Page 21 - Rajya Sabha

BJP's 9 for the taking: RS seats to be secured without a single vote

The BJP is currently at 87 seats in the Rajya Sabha

RS bypoll: BJP's Haryana candidate Kiran Choudhry files nomination

BJP leader Kiran Choudhry on Wednesday filed her nomination for the Rajya Sabha bypoll from Haryana, with some JJP rebel MLAs also extending support to her candidature. Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, state BJP president Mohan Lal Badoli, several party MLAs, the party's co-incharge for the state Biplab Kumar Deb and some JJP rebels were among those present when Choudhry submitted her nomination papers. Wednesday was the last day for filing nominations for the Rajya Sabha bypoll. The BJP named Choudhry as its nominee for the bypoll shortly after she resigned from the Assembly on Tuesday, nearly two months after she switched over from the Congress. She represented the Tosham seat in the Haryana Assembly. Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda had earlier said his party would not field a candidate for the Rajya Sabha seat as it did not have the numbers. Though BJP has numbers on its side in case of a contest, with the opposition unlikely to field a candidate, Choudhry appears set t

RS bypolls: BJP fields Union ministers Bittu from Raj, Kurian from MP

The BJP Tuesday announced nine candidates for the September 3 Rajya Sabha bypolls, fielding Union ministers Ravneet Singh Bittu from Rajasthan and George Kurian from Madhya Pradesh. The party fielded former BJD leader Mamata Mohanta from Odisha and ex-Congress leader Kiran Choudhary from Haryana. Both these leaders joined the BJP recently. According to a list of nine candidates released by the BJP, Manan Kumar Mishra will contest the bypolls from Bihar, Dhairyashil Patil from Maharashtra and Rajib Bhattacharjee from Tripura. Bhattacharjee is the president of the BJP's Tripura unit. The ruling party has fielded Mission Ranjan Das and former Union minister Rameswar Teli as its candidates from Assam. Elections to 12 vacant Rajya Sabha seats in nine states will be held on September 3. Ten of these seats fell vacant as the sitting members, including Union ministers Piyush Goyal, Sarbananda Sonowal and Jyotiraditya Scindia, were elected to the Lok Sabha. Bypolls are also being held fo

HC orders media houses to take down defamatory videos against RS MP Reddy

The Delhi High Court has directed several media houses to take down and block the URLs of certain videos and posts on social media which contained defamatory statements against Rajya Sabha MP Venumbaka Vijaya Sai Reddy. The high court, in an interim order, said if the media houses fail to remove the URLs within 10 days, the Member of Parliament will be at liberty to approach and request the intermediaries, including Google, Meta Platforms and X, which must then take them down within 36 hours. The high court it its observation expressed displeasure over the spreading of rumours, especially when it has the potential to affect the dignity of a woman and the reputation of a person. Perusal of such statements further reveal that most of them are based on rumours and it is trite law that rumours unlike truth must not be acted upon as an information for dissemination before the public at large especially when such rumours can potentially affect the dignity of a woman as well as the ...

Waqf Bill parliamentary review panel to have 31 MPs: Party-wise breakdown

The Waqf Amendment Bill seeks to overhaul the existing Waqf Act by introducing sweeping changes including representation of Muslim women, non-Muslims in the institutions among other measures

Scindia attacks Oppn on Dhankhar-Jaya face-off; says must apologise to V-P

Union Minister for Communications Jyotiraditya Scindia on Sunday demanded that the Opposition apologise to Rajya Sabha Chairman and Vice President Jagdish Dhankhar, referring to a spat between the chair and Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan. Dhankhar and Jaya Bachchan on Friday locked horns after the actor-politician accused him of speaking to her in the Upper House in an unacceptable tone inviting an angry retort that he can't be schooled. The vice president also said even a celebrity has to follow the House decorum. The Opposition had then walked out calling the matter disrespect to democracy and Constitution. Responding to a question here about the face-off, Scindia said the way the Rajya Sabha chairman has been treated is very sad. He is not only the Speaker of the House but also the Vice President of the country. Every person in the Opposition should apologise for this behaviour. This is not an insult of the Speaker of the House and Vice President but of the Constitution and ou

NDA eyes majority in Rajya Sabha after bypolls for 12 seats next month

The BJP-led NDA is expected to achieve a clear majority in Rajya Sabha after bye-elections for 12 seats scheduled next month, which would help the party get the nod for key legislations such as the Waqf (Amendment) Bill. In the upper house with the current effective strength of 229, the BJP has 87 MPs and with its allies the number is 105. Six nominated members, who usually cast their vote with the government, take the strength of the NDA to 111, four short of the half-way mark of 115. The Congress has 26 members in the Upper House and its allies add another 58, taking the opposition alliance numbers to 84. Among the key fence-sitters are the YSR Congress Party with 11 members and BJD with eight members. Elections to the 12 vacant Rajya Sabha seats in nine states will be held on September 3. The Election Commission has announced 12 separate elections for each of the seats, handing over a clear advantage to the ruling party in the state. The BJP and its allies are expected to win 11

Dhankhar vs Jaya: Walkout over VP's tone, he says Constitution disrespected

Uneasy relations between Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar and opposition parties on Friday erupted in a heated exchange between the chair and Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan, leading to a walkout by opposition parties and Dhankhar calling it "disrespect to democracy and constitution". The cine star objected to the "tone" in which Dhankhar addressed her as well as switching off the mike of Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, triggering a heated exchange. The Chairman, who is also the Vice President of India, said he can't be "schooled" and that Bachchan "may be anybody... a celebrity" but she has to observe decorum. As Dhankhar refused to allow her or any one from the opposition to speak, INDIA bloc parties staged a walkout, which was slammed both by the chair and the treasury benches. Leader of the House and Union Minister J P Nadda called the opposition behaviour "highly indecent and irresponsible". Trouble broke when the Congress MPs sought an apology from BJP memb

Waqf Amendment Bill: 31-member JPC constituted; Owaisi, Masood included

This comes a day after, Kiren Rijiju on Thursday introduced The Waqf (Amendment) Bill and proposed sending it to a joint parliamentary committee after Opposition parties objected to its provision

11 Bills introduced, 3 passed as Budget session of Parliament concludes

LS devoted 27 hrs and 19 minutes to discuss the Union Budget against the allotted 20 hrs

You may be a celebrity, but accept decorum: Jagdeep Dhankar schools Jaya Bachchan | Rajya Sabha

Amid demand of Opposition Rajya Sabha MPs for expunging remarks of BJP MP Ghanshyam Tiwari about LoP, SP MP Jaya Bachchan made remarks about the tone of the remarks made by the Chairman Jagdeep Dhankh

Parliament session highlights: Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha adjourned sine die

Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha highlights: Here are the news updates on the developments in the Parliament

'Unacceptable tone': Jaya Bachchan demands apology from RS Chair Dhankhar

The Opposition staged a walkout on Friday after Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan accused Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar of using unacceptable' tone

Union Budget 2024: Parliament approves Appropriation Bill, Finance Bill

Parliamentary approval for the Budget 2024-25 was completed on Thursday with the Rajya Sabha returning the relevant legislations to the Lok Sabha after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's spirited reply to the debate emphasising Budget was aimed at promoting investments and creating jobs. The Rajya Sabha returned the Appropriation Bill and the Finance Bill to the Lok Sabha, thus completing the budgetary exercise for 2024-25. The Jammu and Kashmir Appropriation Bill too was returned to the Lower House. Earlier, these bills were approved by the Lok Sabha. Sitharaman presented the Budget in the Lok Sabha on July 23. It was her seventh Budget. Replying to the discussions in the Upper House, the minister said the Union Budget balances different overriding imperatives, including growth, employment, capital expenditure, and fiscal consolidation. "In a nutshell, the Union Budget this year balances several overriding imperatives, growth, employment generation, capital investment, and fis

News updates: PM Modi to visit landslide-affected sites in Kerala's Wayanad on Aug 10

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Vinesh deserves the vacant Rajya Sabha seat from Haryana: Ex-CM BS Hooda

Former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said that if he had the majority, he would have allocated the vacant Rajya Sabha seat from Haryana to wrestler, Vinesh Phogat

Protest over Phogat disqualification in RS, anguished Dhankhar leaves House

An anguished Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar left the House for some time during the morning session on Thursday, following an uproar and walkout by Opposition party members, who were not allowed to raise the issue related to the disqualification of Vinesh Phogat from the Olympics. Soon after the listed papers were tabled in the House, Leader of Opposition and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge stood up to raise the Phogat disqualification issue and wanted to know "who is behind" it. However, Dhankhar did not allow Kharge to raise the issue. In the meantime, Derek O'Brien of TMC, stood up to raise some issues but was not allowed by the Chair. To this Dhankar cautioned the TMC member, saying "You are shouting at the Chair. Your conduct is ugliest in the House. I condemn your actions. Next time I will show you the door". As uproar increased in the House, Opposition parties staged a walkout. Dhankhar expressed his anguish on the conduct of Opposition members and left the H

Opposition walkout in Rajya Sabha over Vinesh Phogat's disqualification

The Opposition said they wanted to discuss wrestler Vinesh Phogat's Olympic disqualification. But the government was not ready, alleged Congress Members of Parliament

Elections to 12 vacant Rajya Sabha seats from 9 states on September 3: EC

Elections to 12 vacant Rajya Sabha seats in nine states will be held on September 3, the Election Commission said on Wednesday. Ten Rajya Sabha seats fell vacant as the sitting members, including Union ministers Piyush Goyal, Sarbananda Sonowal and Jyotiraditya Scindia, were elected to the Lok Sabha. Bypolls are also being held for two seats in Telangana and Odisha. K Keshava Rao from Telangana resigned recently from the House after quitting the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) to join the Congress while Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MP Mamata Mohanta resigned from her Rajya Sabha seat and primary membership of the party. Besides Goyal, Sonowal and Scindia, the other Rajya Sabha members who won the parliamentary polls and moved to the Lok Sabha are Kamakhya Prasad Tasa (BJP), Misha Bharti (RJD), Vivek Thakur (BJP), Deepender Singh Hooda (Congress), Udayanraje Bhosle (BJP), K C Venugopal (Congress) and Biplab Kumar Deb (BJP). The notification for the Rajya Sabha elections will be issued on Aug

FM Sitharaman tables Appropriation (No 2) Bill 2024 in Rajya Sabha

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday introduced the Appropriation (No 2) Bill 2024 in the Rajya Sabha which authorises certain sums out of the Consolidated Fund of India for services in 2024-25. Sitharamam also introduced the Jammu and Kashmir Appropriation (No.3) Bill, 2024 in the Upper House. The Lok Sabha passed the two legislations last week. Initiating the discussion on the bills, Digvijaya Singh of Congress stated that the focus of the government should be on reducing the disparity between rich and poor, tackling price rise and generating employment. Attacking the government, he said that for the last decade the government has just worked for the benefit of big corporations. He stated that household savings have come down in the country signalling that poverty is on the rise. He said that while price increase is there, earnings remain at the same level as was the case 10 years ago. "The number of billionaires has risen the most during the Modi government. Poor h