Rajya Sabha News

Bibhav Kumar has moved the Supreme Court for grant of bail in the AAP Rajya Sabha member Swati Maliwal assault case. As per the apex court website, Kumar moved the bail plea on July 19 and it was registered on July 24.

Amit Shah on Wednesday informed Parliament that Rs 362.91 crore has been disbursed to over 4.2 lakh depositors of Sahara Group of Cooperative Societies as of July 16 this year. Shah, in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, said this disbursement is facilitated through the CRCS-Sahara Refund Portal, which was established following a Supreme Court order on March 29, 2023, aimed at assisting legitimate depositors in reclaiming their funds.

Bengaluru, despite the city and surrounding constituencies electing five BJP MPs and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman representing Karnataka in the Rajya Sabha, Aarin Capital chairman TV Mohandas Pai said on Tuesday.

kanwar route to display owners' names, NEET paper leaks and spike in terrorist attacks in J&K echoed loudly at the all-party meeting called by the government on the eve of Parliament's monsoon session. The meeting was chaired by defence minister Rajnath Singh and 55 leaders from 44 parties attended the gathering. Congress' Lok Sabha deputy leader Gourav Gogoi demanded that Deputy Speaker's post be given to the Opposition. He also raised NEET-NET paper leaks and internal security situations in J&K and Manipur. He strongly opposed the BJP-led UP government's unconstitutional order on kanwar yatra, worsening railway safety and Agniveer scheme, party leader Jairam Ramesh posted on X. Ramesh later said that leaders demanded that the Central Hall be opened again for MPs to mingle with each other. Samajwadi Party's Rajya Sabha floor leader termed UP's Kanwar order «unconstitutional». He said after the meeting: «This is a way to harass minorities and the entire Opposition is united on this issue.» CPIM leader John Brittas said the pilgrimage routes should not be used to divide the society. Most Opposition parties including RJD, CPI, AAP, IUML, AIMIM spoke strongly against the order. BJP's erstwhile ally SAD also criticised the order.

Budget session, TMC MP Derek O'Brien said on Saturday, reiterating the opposition's demand to appoint one of its members as the Lok Sabha deputy speaker. The first session of the 18th Lok Sabha was stormy with opposition INDIA bloc parties attacking the ruling BJP-led NDA over the NEET-UG paper leak row and the situation in Manipur among other issues. Both Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha saw multiple adjournments. Parliament's Budget session will be held between July 22 and August 12. «It is the government's duty to run Parliament smoothly in the Budget session. They must offer the deputy speaker (post) in the Lok Sabha to an INDIA candidate,» O'Brien, a Rajya Sabha member, said in a post on X.

BJP and its government at the Centre are playing with the life of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who has lost 8.5 kg and whose blood sugar level dropped below 50 mg/dL five times while in jail, AAP Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh claimed on Saturday. There was no immediate reaction from the BJP on his claims. «His health condition is such that if he is not brought out of jail soon and provided medical care, any serious incident may happen with him,» Singh said at a press conference. He said Kejriwal's weight was 70 kg when he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 21 in the excise policy-linked money laundering case. Now, his weight has reduced to 61.5 kg, he claimed.

Bharat Rashtra Samithi is now faced with the defection of its MLAs and MLCs to the ruling Congress in Telangana. Till date, seven MLAs and six MLCs of BRS switched over to the Congress since the Assembly polls. Several other leaders, including BRS Rajya Sabha member K Keshav Rao, his daughter and Hyderabad Mayor Vijaya Laxmi R Gadwal, also joined the Congress. Keshav Rao has, however, quit his post after joining Congress. With the ruling Congress and the BJP looking to consolidate their gains in the Assembly and Lok Sabha polls, the BRS faces an uphill task to resurrect itself following the exodus of leaders.

Rajya Sabha midway through the PM's speech on Wednesday, said they were protesting against the Chairman and the prime minister «not allowing» Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge to intervene. Kharge said he wanted to rebut the prime minister's charge against Congress and wanted to point out who all were supporting and who all were against the Constitution when it was conceptualised by the Constituent Assembly. Flanked by leaders of INDIA bloc outside the Parliament House, Kharge said: «We walked out of the Rajya Sabha because the prime minister, while addressing the House on the President's address, told some wrong things to the House. It's his habit to lie and say things beyond the truth.

Telangana held meetings on Thursday with the candidates who contested in the elections. The three-member committee is led by senior leader and former deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha P J Kurien. Congress Lok Sabha member from Warangal Kadiam Kavya told reporters that the panel members asked her about the party's areas of strength and weaknesses and the steps to be taken to strengthen the party further.

Opposition staged a walkout in Rajya Sabha, the leader of Opposition in the upper House Mallikarjun Kharge said that they walked out from the House because Prime Minister Narendra Modi was speaking some 'wrong things' during the reply to the motion of thanks. «It's his habit to lie, mislead people and say things beyond truth. I have just asked him that, when he was speaking about the Constitution, you didn't make the Constitution, you people were against it,» Kharge alleged. He further said, «I just wanted to clarify who was for Constitution and who was against it. RSS wrote in their editorial in 1950 that the bad thing about the Constitution is that there is nothing about India's history. They opposed the Constitution. They are against it since the beginning and they say that they are for it. Effigies of Ambedkar, Nehru were burnt. Now they are saying that we are against it.»

Parliament so far seems to be nothing but a spillover of election-time campaign rhetoric (sic). Both 'battering ram' Opposition and 'bulldozer' government seem to have misunderstood the mandate — of their jobs. Holding successful elections, winning or losing in polls, and the act of voting are only one aspect of parliamentary democracy. The real 'dance of democracy' is what happens in between elections.

Congress on Saturday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi broke all parliamentary norms by accusing the then Rajya Sabha chairman Hamid Ansari of having an «inclination» towards the opposition when the BJP came to power in 2014. In his reply to the Motion of Thanks on the President's address in the Lok Sabha on July 2, Modi said, «No matter how many numbers they claim, when we came in 2014, our strength in the Rajya Sabha was very low, and the Chair's inclination was somewhat on the other side. But we did not waver from our resolve to serve the country with pride.» «I want to tell the people of the country that the decision you have made, the order you have given us to serve, neither Modi nor this government will be afraid of any such obstacles. We will fulfill the resolutions we have set out to achieve,» Modi had said.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday took potshot at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement that last 10 years of his rule was just a trailer and 'picture abhi baaki hai', saying the third term of NDA has seen exam paper leaks, terror attack in J&K, train accident, airport canopy collapse, bridges cave-ins and toll tax hike. Participating in the discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President's address in the Rajya Sabha, Leader of Opposition Kharge said the prime minister during the Lok Sabha election campaign stated many times that «pichle 10 saal toh bas trailer tha, abhi asli picture baaki hai» (last ten years was just a trailer, the real picture is yet to come). «How the PM's picture would be, we have been able to imagine in the last one month,» Kharge quipped. Listing out many recent incidents, Kharge pointed out that there have been exam paper leaks, cancellation of many examinations, train accident, three terror attacks in Jammu & Kashmir, leakages in Ram temple, collapse of canopy at three airports, increase in toll taxes and depreciation of rupee.

Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Jha as working president. The decision was taken at a meeting of its national executive where the party reiterated its demand for special category status for Bihar, while adding that the Centre could also consider an alternative in a special package, its senior leader Neeraj Kumar said. The BJP ally also demanded stringent action against culprits in exam paper leak cases and called for a strong law to rule out such incidents in the future. The decision to appoint Jha as working president is significant since he is known to have a good equation with the BJP leadership.

BJP's extended state executive meeting to discuss strategy for the Haryana assembly elections due later this year began in Panchkula on Saturday. Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, the BJP's election in-charge for Haryana, co-in-charge Biplab Kumar Deb, Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, his predecessor and Union minister Manohar Lal Khattar and senior leader Saudan Singh were present during the session at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium. Union Home Minister Amit Shah will chair the meeting during the afternoon session, a BJP leader said. Besides preparing the outline for the elections, Shah will infuse fresh zeal and enthusiasm in the party workers, the leader added.

Sonia Gandhi in a leading English daily, Rajya Sabha Leader of Opposition and party president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of not «reflecting» on the message given to him by voters in the recent parliamentary elections. "'There is no evidence that the Prime Minister has come to terms with the electoral outcome or has reflected on the message sent to him by voters', writes CPP Chairperson, Smt. Sonia Gandhi," posted Kharge on social media platform X today. Alongside his tweet, Kharge also attached the news article tilted «Preaching consensus, provoking confrontation,» written by the Sonia Gandhi, the chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary party.

news channels have gone off air at several places in Andhra Pradesh following the declaration of the results of the Assembly and Parliamentary elections with an opposition YSRCP Parliamentarian alleging coercion by the state government leading to them being blocked. Allegations of channels- TV9, NTV, 10TV and Sakshi TV- being blocked have been levelled against the NDA government, comprising TDP, BJP and Janasena. YSRCP Rajya Sabha member S Niranjan Reddy complained to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) over the alleged blocking of these four vernacular news channels by the government. In a recent letter to TRAI, Reddy claimed the Andhra Pradesh Cable TV Operators Association took these four channels off air due to alleged coercion by the TDP-led government in the state.

Leader of the Opposition? Why wasn't there any Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha since 2014? Why is the Congress likely to get the post? The lies in numbers.The Leader of the Opposition is the Leader of the largest opposition party. The post was not recognised till 1969 when Ram Subhag Singh became the first recognised LoP of the Lok Sabha.The post received statutory recognition through the Salary and Allowances of Leaders of Opposition in Parliament Act, 1977.The Act defines the term ' Leader of the Opposition' as that member of the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha who, for the time being, is the Leader of that House of the party in Opposition to the government having the greatest numerical strength and recognised, as such, by the chairman of the Rajya Sabha or the speaker of the Lok Sabha.Although several political parties may exist in the Opposition, the post of Leader of the Opposition is said to be taken up by the party that secures one-tenth of the total strength of the Lok Sabha.

Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday resigned from Wayanad seat of Lok Sabha, said the official notification. Earlier during the day, the Congress leader formally informed the Lok Sabha Speaker's office about retaining the Raebareli Lok Sabha seat and vacating the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat. Priyanka Gandhi enters political arena:

Rahul Gandhi chose to keep Rae Bareli and announced candidacy of his sister from Wayanad seat.Taking to X, Rajeev Chandrasekhar said the Congress decision to field Priyanka Gandhi from Wayanad was “shamelessness". “There is shamelessness and there is Cong type of shamelessness - imposing one member after another of their dynasty on voters of Wayanad - after shamelessly hiding the fact that Rahul was contesting from another constituency," Rajeev Chandrasekhar said.The BJP leader further alleged that this pattern of betrayal is the reason why the party has witnessed defeat for a consecutive third term.