United Opposition

Several opposition parties on Wednesday said the "partisan" conduct of Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar prompted them to move a notice for his removal as vice president and alleged that politics has taken precedence over rules in the Upper House of Parliament. Addressing a press conference at the Constitution Club here, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge alleged that Dhankhar is working as a government spokesperson and acting like a school headmaster, often sermonising experienced opposition leaders and preventing them from speaking in the House. Khage also claimed that Dhankhar himself is responsible for the disruptions in the House. "The Rajya Sabha chairman's conduct has been contrary to the dignity of the post he holds. He targets opposition leaders and often praises the government," Kharge said. "Politics has taken precedence over rules in the Rajya Sabha and the chairman has indulged in partisan behaviour," he alleged. The Congress chief said since 1952, no resolutio

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday expressed dissatisfaction with the functioning of the opposition INDIA bloc, signaling her intent to take charge of the alliance if given the opportunity. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo said she could manage the dual responsibility of running the opposition front while continuing her role as the chief minister of Bengal. "I had formed the INDIA bloc, now it is up to those leading the front to manage it. If they can't run the show, what can I do? I would just say that everyone needs to be taken along," she said in an interview with Bengali news channel News 18 Bangla. Asked why she is not taking the charge of the bloc, given her credentials as a strong anti-BJP force, Banerjee said, "If given the opportunity I would ensure its smooth functioning." "I don't want to go outside Bengal, but I can run it from here," she said. The INDIA bloc, formed to counter the BJP, comprises over two dozen opposition parties. However, interna

The Winter Session of Parliament, which began on Nov 25 and runs until Dec 20, has been marred by repeated disruption due to Opposition protests

The Congress on Monday accused the treasury benches of "running away" from a discussion in Parliament on issues such as the Adani indictment and Sambhal violence, and said the government simply did not want Parliament to function. Both Houses of Parliament were adjourned on Monday amid continued protests by the opposition, which demanded a discussion on the indictment of industrialist Gautam Adani in a US court on bribery charges and the Sambhal violence, which claimed four lives. Congress general secretary in-charge, communications, Jairam Ramesh said, "Today too both Houses got adjourned. INDIA parties had given notices for an immediate discussion on Adani, Manipur, Sambhal, and Ajmer. These parties never agitated. There was hardly any sloganeering. But the Modi government simply did not want Parliament to function." "The situation is truly extraordinary. The Opposition wants a discussion but the government is running away from it," Ramesh said. He said opposition INDIA bloc part

Both Houses were adjourned for the day after they reconvening at 12 noon following adjournments since the sessions began at 11 am

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, was also present in this meeting along with other party leaders

Opposition leaders on Tuesday demanded a debate on the Constitution in both Houses of Parliament, stressing it was needed in the light of the recent developments in the country. Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said he and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi have written to the Chair in the two Houses requesting that a discussion should be held on the Constitution for two days in both Houses. "Time should be allotted for that so that the good things about the Constitution can be discussed, and the wrong things that are happening today can also be discussed. Rahul Gandhi ji and I have written letters, we are waiting for the government's response," Kharge told PTI as the country celebrated the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution. Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh questioned if the Preamble of the Constitution is being implemented in letter and spirit. "Are people getting justice, liberty? Is there freedom of expression? Where is ...

Opposition members of the Joint Committee on the Waqf Amendment Bill on Monday met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla with a complaint against panel chairman Jagadambika Pal, accusing him of bulldozing the proceedings on the crucial matter. In a memorandum to the Speaker, the opposition members also sought an extension of the tenure of the Joint Committee of Parliament by a "reasonable time" to allow substantive deliberations on the expansive legislation. "We submitted to the Speaker that the due processes are not followed by the chairman. He is hurrying up, bulldozing the proceedings," DMK member A Raja told reporters after meeting the Speaker. Among the members who met the Speaker are DMK leaders Raja and M Abdulla, Congress members Syed Naseer Hussain, Mohammed Jawed and Imran Masood, Trinamool members Kalyan Banerjee and M Nadimul Haque, AAP member Sanjay Singh, SP member Mohibbullah and AIMIM member Asaduddin Owaisi. Raja said Pal was not following the due process of the Joint Committ

Haryana elections: AAP, after failed Congress alliance talks, has so far announced 40 candidates for Haryana's 90-seat assembly, resulting in many overlaps with its INDIA ally

Amid growing instances of run-ins between governors and opposition-ruled state governments, senior Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi on Monday said the governor's post should either be abolished or a person of stature who is not into petty politics be appointed by consensus. Singhvi, who was elected to the Rajya Sabha unopposed from Telangana last week, also weighed in on the repeated standoffs between the Chair and the opposition in both Houses of Parliament and called for reforms to ensure the Chair is not partisan. In an interview with PTI, the four-time MP said a very big failing of this government is that it "demeaned, devalued and diminished" every institution and there were several instances of governors acting as a second chief executive or a "second sword in the same scabbard". "Either the governor's post be abolished or by consensus a person of stature who is not into petty politics be appointed," Singhvi asserted. "Will a person like Gopalkrishna Gandhi do such a thing? I

Assembly elections in Jammu-Kashmir are scheduled from September 18 to October 1 in three phases. The counting of votes will be done on October 4.

CPI general secretary D Raja Saturday justified the decision of several chief ministers to boycott the Governing Council meetings of the NITI Aayog, claiming that certain actions of the Centre are behind their move. Taxes and funds were not being shared properly by the central government, Raja alleged. "The CMs who are boycotting the NITI Aayog meeting have certain issues. There are very genuine issues. The Central government's actions were responsible for it," Raja told reporters here. Chief ministers of the INDIA bloc -- Stalin (DMK), Kerala's Pinarayi Vijayan (CPI-M), Punjab's Bhagwant Mann (Aam Aadmi Party), Congress's Siddaramaiah (Karnataka), Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu (Himachal Pradesh) and Revanth Reddy (Telangana), and Jharkhand's Hemant Soren (Jharkhand Mukti Morcha) -- skipped the NITI Aayog meeting. Stating that the Constitution defines India (Bharat), as a union of states, Raja said: "It means the union government should treat all the state governments equally and there ..

AAP alleged on Friday that the BJP-led central government is treating Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal as a "political prisoner" and said all INDIA bloc parties have given in-principle approval to attend a protest to support him on July 30 at Jantar Mantar. At a press conference here, AAP general secretary (organisation) Sandeep Pathak claimed that Kejriwal's blood sugar level dropped to 50 mg/dL and below 34 times in jail between June 3 and July 7. "Dictators imprison people due to their political animosity, and Arvind Kejriwal is also a political prisoner," he said and added that the opposition alliance will join the protest to support Kejriwal. "Efforts are being made to scare Kejriwal but he is not going to be afraid. This is not a question of an individual or the Aam Aadmi Party but to save the country and the system from the whims of a dictator," Pathak said. This issue has been considered by the INDIA bloc parties and there is "consensus" that this is not a question of a

A crucial meeting of INDIA bloc legislators began here on Wednesday, amid speculations of a change of guard in the state, MLAs of the alliance said. The meeting has been convened by former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, who is also the executive president of the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM). Soren was released from jail on June 28 after nearly five months, as the high court granted him bail in a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam. "A change of guard in the state is possible... This meeting is crucial. All the legislators of the ruling alliance assembled here at 11 am," a party source told PTI. The speculations were fuelled by the sudden cancellation of all important programmes of Chief Minister Champai Soren, including distribution of appointment letters to 1,500 selected teachers on Wednesday. On Tuesday, too, all public programmes of Champai Soren, who had taken oath as the 12th CM of Jharkhand on February 2 after Hemant Soren's arrest, stood ...

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