Page 22 - Rajya Sabha

Lok Sabha polls: BJP drops 11 ministers, fields 10 former Rajya Sabha MPs

A third of the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP)'s 303 members of Parliament are not contesting the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections

India needs more leaders like Manmohan Singh to propel growth momentum

The standard critique of Singh mingles this lack of legitimacy with his retiring manner and stilted speechmaking to create a picture of a weak man who just happened to make history

BJP president J P Nadda, five others take oath as Rajya Sabha members

BJP national president J P Nadda and five other newly-elected members of the Rajya Sabha took oath on Saturday. The oath was administered by Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar. Among others who also took oath include Ashokrao Shankarrao Chavan (Maharashtra), Chunnilal Garasiya (Rajasthan), Anil Kumar Yadav Mandadi (Telangana), Sushmita Dev and Mohammad Nadimul Haque (both West Bengal). "Vice-President of India & Chairman, Rajya Sabha, Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar administered oath to Shri Jagat Prakash Narayan Lal Nadda ji as the elected Member of Rajya Sabha in Parliament House today," Dhankhar's office said in a post on X while sharing pictures of the oath-taking. His office also said that the Chairman, Rajya Sabha, also administered oath to the elected members of the Rajya Sabha in Parliament House which include Ashokrao Shankarrao Chavan, Chunnilal Garasiya, Anil Kumar Yadav Mandadi, Sushmita Dev and Mohammad Nadimul Haque.

The passing of the technocrat age

The 1990s and 2000s were a golden age for technocrats globally. Government - and not just in India - was, depending upon your point of view, either depoliticised or too highly politicised

Watch: Congress leader Sonia Gandhi takes oath as Rajya Sabha member

Watch Sonia Gandhi take oath as a member of the Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan, on April 4. The 77-year-old Congress leader chose to forgo contesting another election to retain her long-held >

Sonia Gandhi, Ashwini Vaishnaw, 12 others sworn in as RS members: Checklist

Sonia Gandhi took oath as a member of the Upper House from Rajasthan, and Vaishnaw was sworn in as a member of the same house from Odisha

Women Commission summons MP Surjewala over 'sexist' remark on Hema Malini

Women Commission summons MP Surjewala over 'sexist' remark on Hema Malini

WATCH: Union Minister and BJP MP Ashwini Vaishnaw takes oath as Rajya Sabha MP

Union Minister and BJP MP Ashwini Vaishnaw took oath as Rajya Sabha MP in New Delhi on April 4, 2024. He was among the 14 leaders who took oath as members of the Rajya Sabha

Cong leader Sonia Gandhi takes oath as Rajya Sabha member from Rajasthan

Congress Chairperson Sonia Gandhi has decided to forgo contesting the 2024 Lok Sabha elections after holding Uttar Pradesh's Rae Bareli seats for nearly two decades

Manmohan Singh's Rajya Sabha tenure ends; Kharge lauds his 'quiet dignity'

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will retire from Rajya Sabha at the age of 91. He is among 54 other MPs bidding goodbye to the Upper House

RJD leader Manoj Jha takes oath as RS MP for 2nd term alongside 6 others

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and spokesperson of the party Manoj Jha on Wednesday took oath as a member of Rajya Sabha for his second consecutive term in the House.Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar administered the oath to Jha in the Parliament House."Hon'ble Vice-President of India & Chairman, Rajya Sabha, Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar administered oath to the elected Members of Rajya Sabha in Parliament House today," the vice president's office said in a post on X while sharing pictures of the oath-taking.Notably, all six Rajya Sabha candidates from Bihar were elected unopposed to the Upper House of Parliament comprising two members each from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), along with one each from Janata Dal (United) and Congress.The BJP fielded its State vice-president Bhim Singh and president of State women's wing president Dharmsheela Gupta (from the Extremely Backward Class and Other Backward Classes, respectively) while the RJD nominated Manoj

54 MPs including ex-PM Manmohan Singh, 9 Union ministers retiring from RS

As many as 54 members of the Rajya Sabha including former prime minister Manmohan Singh and nine union ministers are set to retire on Tuesday and Wednesday with some not returning to the Upper House. Former prime minister Singh ends his 33-year-long parliamentary innings in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday (April 3), just as former party chief Sonia Gandhi will enter the Upper House of Parliament for the first time. Singh, who is known for ushering in several bold reforms in the economy, became a member of the House for the first time in October 1991. He was the finance minister in the Narasimha Rao government from 1991 to 1996 and the prime minister from 2004 to 2014. Sonia Gandhi will enter the Upper House for the first time from Rajasthan, filling the seat that will fall vacant after 91-year-old Singh completes his tenure on April 3. Seven Union ministers -- Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Minister Purshottam .

LS polls: As elections near, call for eco-friendly campaigning grow louder

As election campaigns started across the country, environmentalists demand that political parties take the digital and other non-conventional ways of electioneering to minimise the impact of non-biodegradable poll materials on nature. Political parties should rely mostly on social media to reach voters and shun flexes and plastic flags that litter streets once the polling is over and many a time reach waterbodies polluting them or block drains causing them to overflow. Parties blame the need for visibility factor in elections behind the use of those materials and promise to address the issue. Environmentalist Somendra Mohan Ghosh asked, Why can't we come out of campaigns by putting up flexes, plastic flags even in remote rural parts which create a non-biodegradable mess and put a strain on the environment? Shifting to the digital mode for election campaigning should not be a distant dream in the present age as mobile phones with internet are available even in remote areas of the ..

Rajinder Rana hints at more Congress MLAs joining BJP in Himachal Pradesh

More legislators are feeling suffocated in the Congress and would also show courage to leave the party in the coming days, said Rajinder Rana, one of the six disqualified MLAs who switched to the BJP on Saturday. The Congress rebels and three independent MLAs, who had voted in favour of the BJP in recently concluded Rajya Sabha polls, were given a rousing welcome by the BJP on their arrival here after joining the party in New Delhi. "More legislators are feeling suffocated in Congress and are in contact with us. They would also show courage to leave Congress in the coming days," Rana told reporters here. He blamed the Congress leadership for the "political disaster" in the hill state and claimed the state government 'is on a ventilator". The BJP workers and supporters of these leaders danced to the traditional folk tunes while welcoming them here on Saturday night. The three independents are Ashish Sharma (Hamirpur constituency), Hoshiyar Singh (Dehra) and K L Thakur (Nalagarh) ha

India's House delegation leaves for Assembly of Inter-Parliamentary Union

The delegation, attending the event scheduled between March 23 and 27, will raise issues like parliamentary diplomacy, and building bridges for peace and understanding

AAP's Sanjay Singh takes oath as RS Member of Parliament for 2nd term

Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday administered oath to Aam Aadmi Party MP Sanjay Singh after his re-election to the Upper House from Delhi for a second term. He was administered oath in Dhankhar's office in Parliament House in the presence of his mother and father, wife, and son and daughter. "Vice-President of India and Chairman, Rajya Sabha Jagdeep Dhankhar administered oath to re-elected Member of Rajya Sabha Sanjay Singh ji, in Parliament House today," the vice president's office said in a post on X while sharing pictures of the oath-taking. Singh, who is lodged in Tihar jail, was brought under a security cover, at the order of a local court. "The Jail Superintendent concerned is directed to ensure that the accused is taken to Parliament on 19.03.2024 under adequate security for the purpose of making and subscribing of oath as a Member and after the oath, he is also brought back to the jail safely," the judge said in his order. Sanjay Singh was arrested by the .

We want Supreme Court-monitored Lok Sabha polls 2024: TMC's Derek O'Brien

The TMC party leader in Rajya Sabha wondered whether the BJP is so nervous of facing the people that it is turning the EC into "its party office"

Over 200K eligible people set to get e-vouchers under Vishwakarma scheme

The data sourced from the Vishwakarma portal shows that nearly 15 million people applied under the scheme

Sanjay Singh to be taken to Parl on March 19 for oath as RS MP: Delhi Court

A Delhi court has directed Tihar Jail officials to take Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh, who is arrested in the excise scam case, to Parliament on Tuesday to enable him to take oath as a Rajya Sabha member. Special Judge M K Nagpal directed the jail superintendent to ensure adequate security during Singh's movement. "The Jail Superintendent concerned is directed to ensure that accused is taken to Parliament on 19.03.2024 under adequate security for the purpose of making and subscribing of oath as a Member and after the oath, he is also brought back to the jail safely," the judge said. In an order passed on March 16, the judge said that during the visit Singh will not be permitted to use mobile phone or talk with any other accused, suspect or witness in this case, or in the connected case of the CBI. He shall also not be permitted to address the press or hold any public meeting, judge Nagpal said. However, he may be permitted to meet his counsel as well as his family members du

Do celebrities make good politicians?

The trend of celebrities joining politics in India first began in the 1960s, when thespian Prithviraj Kapoor was nominated to the Rajya Sabha