Rajya Sabha News

RLD joining BJP-led NDA ahead of the general elections, the regional party leader Jayant Singh on Saturday praised the Modi government for honouring his grandfather and former prime minister Chaudhary Charan Singh with Bharat Ratna. He said that only a government «rooted to ground realties» could have taken such a decision. As soon as Singh started thanking the government for the honour in Rajya Sabha, Congress members objected and Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge wanted to know the rule under which the RLD leader was allowed to speak. Kharge said it is a matter of pride and he «salutes» former prime ministers P V Narasimha Rao and Charan Singh and agriculture scientist M S Swaminathan, all of whom are being conferred with Bharat Ratna.

NEW DELHI : The ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government and the opposition Congress party locked horns on Thursday, over a paper tabled in the Lok Sabha by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman accusing the previous United Progressive Alliance regime of undermining the country’s macroeconomic fundamentals, and the Congress hitting back at the government citing price rice and unemployment. The debate over the economic track record before and after 2014 highlighted major shocks that India’s economy underwent under both regimes, how the respective governments dealt with them, the effectiveness of the fiscal stimulus, given as well as the persisting issues of price rice and job creation not being commensurate with the demand from a large working age population.

Jaishankar on Monday said the Statue of Unity in Gujarat has become a major tourist destination due to the Narendra Modi government's efforts to boost tourism, which also generated jobs for local tribal youths. Jaishankar inaugurated a skill centre dedicated to training local tribal youths in the hospitality sector at Ekta Nagar near the Statue of Unity in Narmada district. As many as 120 tribal youths will be trained annually at this «Hospitality Skill Centre» started by Tata Group firm IHCL, as per a state government release.

Digi Yatra is purely voluntary for air passengers and personnel at airports have been directed to collect data for the application only with the consent of passengers, according to Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. There have been complaints that biometric data for Digi Yatra were being gathered from passengers without their consent and the issue was flagged to the minister by Rajya Sabha member Saket Gokhale. Digi Yatra, which provides for contactless, seamless movement of passengers at various check points at airports based on Facial Recognition Technology (FRT), is currently available at a minimum 13 airports for domestic passengers.

election in-charges and co-in-charges for 23 states and Union territories in view of the Lok Sabha polls this year. BJP national general secretary Vinod Tawde has been made the election in-charge for Bihar, while BJP Rajya Sabha member and former Jharkhand unit chief Deepak Prakash will be the co-in-charge, according to a party statement. Tawde is the BJP's in-charge for political affairs in Bihar.

BJP leaders held consultations among themselves and with allies on Friday amid signs that the party is open to joining hands with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar yet again as his ties with INDIA bloc partners nosedive. Former Bihar deputy chief minister and Rajya Sabha member Sushil Kumar Modi, who has been among the state leaders consulted by the BJP top brass, told reporters that doors are never closed permanently for anyone in politics. They open and close as per the necessity, he said, when asked about the party's earlier stand that its doors were closed for Kumar forever after he snapped ties with the BJP in August 2022.

Nitish Kumar may revive ties with the NDA has elicited mixed responses from political circles. On Friday, Kumar attended a high tea ceremony at the Raj Bhavan in Patna on Republic Day with his deputy Tejashwi Yadav of the RJD remaining conspicuous by his absence. Following is what has been said by leaders across the political spectrum about Kumar's likely switch to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA): * All is well in Bihar's ruling Mahagathbandhan and the media speculations are driven by some agenda.

Union minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Thursday said the government was ready to discuss all issues as per rules. The Budget session of Parliament, the last of the present Lok Sabha before parliamentary elections are announced, begins on January 31 and will conclude on February 9. Responding to a question on the opposition's allegation that the government was not allowing it to raise issues in the House, the minister of state for Parliamentary Affairs said, «We are ready to discuss every issue that the speaker of the Lok Sabha and the chairman of the Rajya Sabha decide under the rules.» «We have always done this.

Shiv Sena (UBT) on Wednesday attacked the BJP-led Centre for not conferring Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian award, on Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar. Addressing a news conference, Sena (UBT) leader and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut called the Centre's decision to honour former Bihar chief minister Karpoori Thakur with the award posthumously a political move. Since the Narendra Modi government took charge in Delhi (in 2014), 11 people have been conferred the highest civilian award, but Savarkar has not found a place on the list, said Raut.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Tuesday said his party's connection with Lord Ram was the oldest and deeply emotional, and claimed if his party was not there, the consecration of Ram Lalla's idol in Ayodhya temple would not have been possible. The Rajya Sabha member was speaking at a party conclave here. «We have a very old connection with Lord Ram.

Maharashtra assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar for recognising Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led party as the «real» Shiv Sena, claiming the Constitution has been trampled upon by recognising a «gang of thieves». The people of the state will not forgive those behind this, an editorial in the Sena (UBT) mouthpiece 'Saamana' said while also targeting the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. Addressing a news conference here, Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut claimed Narwekar was entrusted with doing justice, but he acted as Shinde's lawyer.

Sanjay Singh and ND Gupta, were renominated for the second term in the Upper House of Parliament. The nominations were announced by the AAP's Political Affairs Committee (PAC), chaired by AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. ALSO READ | Delhi Rape Case: Protesting Swati Maliwal spends night at hospital after cops denied her to meet victim "DCW chairperson Swati Maliwal has been nominated for the first time.

BJP president JP Nadda, and former prime minister Manmohan Singh are among the 57 Rajya Sabha members retiring in April, just ahead of the next Lok Sabha polls. The BJP may have to take a call on the candidature of these nine ministers and Nadda before deciding its Lok Sabha candidates. In total, 68 Rajya Sabha members are retiring in 2024. BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh will have a maximum of 10 vacancies, followed by Maharashtra and Bihar (six each), Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal (five each), Karnataka and Gujarat (four each), Odisha, Telangana, Kerala, and Andhra Pradesh (three each), Jharkhand and Rajasthan (two each), and Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, and Chhattisgarh (one each). On the back of victory in recent assembly polls in three states, the BJP's tally in Rajya Sabha may remain the same as it is likely to lose seats in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Odisha.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal once again did not attend the summons issued to him by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday. The ED had previously called him for questioning twice, on November 2 and December 21, regarding a money laundering case related to the now-abolished Delhi excise policy of 2021.

B K Hariprasad on Wednesday claimed that there is a possibility of 'Godhra-like incident' in Karnataka in the run up to the consecration ceremony of Ram temple in Ayodhya on January 22. «The Karnataka government should be alert because in Gujarat during the same occasion, the Kar Sevaks were set on fire at Godhra,» the MLC told reporters here. The 2002 Godhra train burning case had plunged Gujarat into one of the worst communal riots. The former Rajya Sabha member said: «A similar (Godhra-like) situation can be created here also.

Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh in a defamation case over his remarks regarding Prime Minister Narendra Modi's educational degree. The court of additional chief metropolitan magistrate SJ Panchal issued the production warrant against Singh after his lawyer informed the court that he had not received any instruction from his client because the Aam Aadmi Party leader is behind bars in Delhi's Tihar jail. Singh was arrested on October 5 in a money laundering case related to the alleged excise scam in Delhi.

Trinamool Congress leader Derek O'Brien on Wednesday said Parliament has turned into a «deep, dark chamber,» as he accused the central government of maintaining silence on the security breach. In a post on X, O'Brien said that unlike now, after the 2001 Parliament attack, the then prime minister and home minister had given statements in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. «2001 Parliament attack: In 3 working days, a full discussion in Parliament.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) bigwigs led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the 'Sadaiv Atal' memorial in New Delhi on Monday to offer floral tributes on the 99th birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. President Droupadi Murmu and Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar were also present at the memorial. Leaders like Former President Ram Nath Kovind, BJP National President JP Nadda, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh, and others paid their respects by offering floral tributes on the occasion.

land-for-jobs case in which former Union minister Lalu Prasad, his wife Rabri Devi and son Tejashwi Yadav already stand charge sheeted, said people in the know. The «comprehensive» charge sheet will also underscore the alleged role played by RJD Rajya Sabha member Prem Chand Gupta. In a supplementary charge sheet filed in July, the CBI had revealed the alleged involvement of Gupta for the first time. The CBI had also informed a local court that Gupta's «role has been revealed during the investigation and certain other individuals are also under investigation.» Gupta, a close aide of Lalu Prasad, is alleged to have played a key role in the purchase of lands through a company to illegally benefit Lalu and his family.

ALSO READ: ‘Govt will have its way but…’: Mallikarjun Kharge writes to Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar over suspension of MPs The whole exchange of letters began after 45 Rajya Sabha Opposition MPs and 33 Lok Sabha Opposition MPs were suspended from the Winter Session of the parliament, for disrupting the session. Stating that the disorder by Opposition MPs was deliberate and strategized, Dhankar stressed that as members of Parliament ', we need to exemplify out conduct worth emulating by others'.

attention that multiple notices were submitted under the relevant rules of the Rules and Procedure of the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) to address the pressing issue of the breach of Parliament security. The Opposition parties were prepared to engage in a meaningful discussion on the matter....I want to reiterate my commitment to open discussion and dialogue. I am more than willing to engage in a meeting with you at a mutually convenient date and time in the near future to address these concerns constructively..." the letter said.