Page 24 - Rajya Sabha

Will PM Modi deliver special category status for Andhra, asks Congress

The Congress on Wednesday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to give clarity on whether he would deliver the special category status for Andhra Pradesh. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh shared on X his speech in the Rajya Sabha from seven years ago about the Modi government's "failure" to deliver on the promise of the AP Reorganisation Act of 2014. "I made this speech in the Rajya Sabha seven years ago, about the Modi Government's failure to deliver on the promise of the AP Reorganisation Act of 2014. Unfortunately, it still holds true today," he said. "Unless (Chandrababu) Naidu garu takes this issue up aggressively, there is little hope that the? 'one-third' Pradhan Mantri will act," Ramesh said. He said there are five broad issues that the PM should give clarity on. "Will the prime minister deliver the special category status for Andhra Pradesh like he promised in the holy city of Tirupati in March 2014, he asked. "Will he release the pending funds for the Polavaram ..

10 RS MPs transition to Lok Sabha, parties gear up for another face-off

BJP held 7 of these seats, Congress 2 and RLD 1

10 vacancies created in Rajya Sabha after members get elected to LS

The just-concluded general election has created as many as 10 vacancies in the Rajya Sabha after its members were elected to the Lok Sabha. The Rajya Sabha secretariat has now notified the vacancies, which includes two each in Assam, Bihar and Maharashtra, and one each in Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Tripura. In its notification giving details of the vacation of seats, the Rajya Sabha secretariat said, "In pursuance of the provision of sub-section (2) of Section 69 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 read with Section 67A and sub-section (4) of Section 68 of that Act, the following have ceased to be Members of Rajya Sabha from the date of their being chosen as members of the 18th Lok Sabha, i.e., the 4th of June, 2024." "Kamakhya Prasad Tasa - Assam, Sarbananda Sonowal - Assam, Misha Bharti - Bihar, Vivek Thakur - Bihar, Deepender Singh Hooda - Haryana, Jyotiraditya M. Scindia - Madhya Pradesh, Udayanraje Bhonsle - Maharashtra, Piyush Goyal - Maharashtra, K. C.

Passing contentious Bills in Parliament likely to become tough for NDA

Party likely to find it difficult sans support of allies, cooperation from Opposition

Composition of new Parliament: More graduates, fewer women elected in 2024

The share of graduate MPs is 78 per cent in 2024. It was 72 per cent in 2019. This remains lower than the 79 per cent seen in 2009

Fadnavis villain of Maha politics; indulged in political vendetta: Raut

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Thursday hit out at senior BJP leader and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, calling him the "villain" in Maharashtra politics, and accused him of destroying many families and resorting to political vendetta. Raut's remarks come a day after Fadnavis offered to step down from post of deputy CM after the BJP's Lok Sabha seat tally in the state came down from 23 to 9, and said he wants to work "full time" for the party ahead of the assembly elections due later this year. Raut also asserted that if Narendra Modi tries to become the prime minister for the third time "forcibly", his government will not last and that the RSS was working to look for an alternative. Talking to reporters in Delhi, the Rajya Sabha member said, "If there is any villain in Maharashtra politics, then it is Devendra Fadnavis. The BJP's drubbing in the Lok Sabha polls is due to Devendra Fadnavis." "Fadnavis has destroyed many families and resorted to politica

Swati Maliwal assault case: Court sends Bibhav Kumar to 3-day custody

A court here on Tuesday granted three days to Delhi Police for custodial interrogation of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's aide Bibhav Kumar, who has been accused of assaulting AAP Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal. The court said Delhi Police cannot be "deprived of its right" to recover the mobile phone which he was carrying at the time of the alleged assault at the chief minister's official residence on May 13. "The presence of the accused in a room where NVRs (network video recorders) are installed is not denied by him or his lawyer. To the mind of this court, the reason for remaining there for a sufficient time is obviously a question which needs to be investigated for which custodial interrogation is necessary," Metropolitan Magistrate Gaurav Goyal said. NVR is a specialised computer that records security video surveillance footage in digital format to a hard drive. Noting Maliwal's specific allegation that Kumar had recorded the incident on his cell phone, the court said, ...

Want fair probe in Maliwal assault case as it has two versions: Kejriwal

In his first reaction on AAP MP Swati Maliwal's alleged assault at his official residence, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said he expects a fair investigation into the matter and justice should be served. Maliwal has alleged she was "assaulted" by Kejriwal's personal assistant Bibhav Kumar when she went to meet the chief minister on May 13. The police have registered a case and arrested Kumar in connection with it. In an interview to PTI, the chief minister said the matter is currently "sub-judice" and his comment might affect the proceedings. "But I expect there will be a fair investigation. Justice should be served. There are two versions of the event. Police should investigate both versions fairly and justice should be done," Kejriwal said. Asked whether he was present at his official residence at the time of the incident, the AAP national convener said he was there. "But I was not present at the scene," he said. His aide Kumar is currently in five-day police

Maliwal assault case: A 'mistimed' appointment lands AAP in crisis

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had reportedly asked Swati Maliwal to resign from the Rajya Sabha

Maliwal 'assault' linked to her Rajya Sabha membership, claims BJP

The Delhi BJP on Sunday claimed Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal wanted to send a senior lawyer to the Rajya Sabha and the alleged assault on Swati Maliwal, an AAP member of the Upper House, was connected to it. The Aam Aadmi Party hit back saying the BJP has "no narrative or vision to offer to the people" and is therefore resorting "to jailing all opposition leaders and making ridiculous allegations every day like this one". The BJP's Delhi unit chief Virendra Sachdeva also asked how AAP came to the conclusion about the saffron party's involvement in the matter when Maliwal was allegedly assaulted at Kejriwal's residence by his close aide Bibhav Kumar. AAP leaders have claimed that Maliwal's allegation is a conspiracy by the BJP to trap Kejriwal. Kejriwal on Sunday claimed the BJP has launched "Operation Jhadoo" to crush AAP as the saffron party sees his party as a "challenge". The BJP's Delhi chief Sachdeva, however, said AAP supremo Kejriwal is enacting a "political drama" over .

Maliwal 'assault' linked to CM's desire to send lawyer to RS, claims BJP

The Delhi BJP on Sunday claimed Chief Minister Kejriwal wanted to send a senior lawyer to the Rajya Sabha and the alleged assault on Swati Maliwal, an AAP member of the Upper House, was connected to it. The BJP's Delhi unit chief Virendra Sachdeva also asked how AAP came to the conclusion about the saffron party's involvement in the matter when Maliwal was allegedly assaulted at Kejriwal's residence by his close aide Bibhav Kumar. AAP leaders have claimed that Maliwal's allegation is a conspiracy by the BJP to trap Kejriwal. Kejriwal on Sunday claimed the BJP has launched "Operation Jhadoo" to crush AAP as the saffron party sees his party as a "challenge". The BJP's Delhi chief Sachdeva, however, said AAP supremo Kejriwal is enacting a "political drama" over Maliwal's "assault" charge while maintaining silence on the issue. The Delhi chief minister and AAP leaders held a protest near the BJP headquarters in the national capital earlier in the day. Kejriwal had earlier alleged tha

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal leads AAP protest, but Congress, BJP hit back

With the AAP leadership accusing Maliwal of working at the behest of the BJP, people within the party have questioned efforts to malign her

News updates: 1 killed, a couple injured in Kashmir twin attacks ahead of polling

From Swati Maliwal's assault case to the raging heat wave in North India, catch all the latest updates from around the world here

Swati Maliwal alleges assault by Kejriwal's aide: What we know so far

AAP MP Swati Maliwal made calls to PCR around 10 am on Monday, alleging an assault at the Delhi CM's residence, a police official said

Those who can't win polls have come to RS from Raj: PM Modi's jibe at Sonia

In a veiled attack on Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said those who cannot win elections have "fled the field" and have come to Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan. Addressing an election rally in Rajasthan's Jalore, Modi said the country is punishing the Congress for its "sins" and the party that had once won 400 seats is unable to find candidates to contest 300 seats in this Lok Sabha election. "Those who cannot contest elections, cannot win elections have fled the field. This time, they have come to Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan. The condition of Congress is so bad," Modi said. Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi is among the MPs elected to Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan in February. Several Congress veterans have not been fielded in this Lok Sabha election, but the party has rejected suggestions that they were shying away from contesting. "In the first phase of voting, half of Rajasthan has punished Congress. Rajasthan, which is full of patriotism, know

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 >