Nitish Kumar had for the second time ditched the BJP in August this year to join hands with the Tejashwi Yadav-led Rashtriya Janata Dal to form a Mahagathbandhan government in the state. Patna: Political Poll strategist and I-Pac founder Prashant Kishore on Saturday dared Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to ask... The post appeared first on .

Patna (Bihar) [India], October 20 (ANI): Political strategist Prashant Kishor has claimed that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's channels with BJP are not closed even as he left the NDA in August this year to rejoin hands with RJD and said that the link exists through Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh.

New Delhi [India], October 9 (ANI): Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha, Harivansh, will lead a parliamentary delegation to Rwanda to attend the 145th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).

Jakarta [Indonesia], October 7 (ANI): Recalling the guiding motto given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi 'Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas aur Sabka Vishwas' i.e. 'Development of all with the support of all and the trust of all' , Deputy Chairman Rajya Sabha Harivansh said that the slogan clearly manifests the spirit of social inclusion, gender equality and women's empowerment.

New Delhi [India], August 14 (ANI): The Janata Dal (United)'s decision to break its alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) not only changed the political equation in Bihar but also created a buzz in the political circle from Patna to Delhi that whether Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman and JD(U) MP Harivansh will continue on his post or going to resign.

New Delhi [India], April 5 (ANI): The Rajya Sabha on Tuesday passed the Chartered Accountants, the Cost and Works Accountants and the Company Secretaries (Amendment) Bill, 2022 after the House voted by voice over 200 times, highlighting the procedural rigour involved in legislation.

New Delhi [India], February 6 (ANI): Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh expressed his condolences over the demise of singing legend Lata Mangeshkar on Sunday and said her song 'Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon' inspired nationalism in the country.

New Delhi Dec 21 PTI TMC floor leader Derek OBrien was suspended from the Upper House of Parliament on Tuesday for the remaining part of the Winter session for the grave misconduct of hurling a Rajya Sabha rule book at the Chair The Winter session is scheduled to conclude on December 23 On the first day of the session on November 29 twelve opposition members of Rajya Sabha were suspended for the entire session of Parliament for their unruly conduct in the previous session in August Before adjourning the proceedings for the day Sasmit Patra who was in the Chair condemned the behaviour of OBrien during the debate on a bill to link electoral roll data with the Aadhaar ecosystem A motion for his suspension was moved by the government and approved with voice vote During the debate on the Election Laws Amendment Bill-2021 the opposition parties demanded a division of votes on their motion for sending it to a select committee However the demand was rejected with voice vote The Trinamool Congress floor leader cited rules for a division of votes even as Deputy Chairman Harivansh urged protesting members to go to their seats to enable the division However opposition members continued to raise slogans in the Well of the House we have all the regards for the rules but the same thing you did on the farm laws you are doing today OBrien said as he threw the Rajya Sabha rule book towards the Chair and announced a walkout from the House The book fell on the table where officials sit along with the Secretary General The bill was subsequently passed with a voice vote Leader of the House Piyush Goyal condemned OBriens conduct The way TMC leader Derek OBrien has thrown the rule book this is not only the insult of the chair or the secretary general or the table or the House it is an insult to the entire country Goyal said The act of the TMC leader would be criticised across the country he added They are doing this kind of politics in one state and if they pass on such bad traditions to the next generation then I am afraid that there is a lot of danger to the democratic traditions of the country the Union minister said Later Patra who was in the Chair said Honourable members I would like to invite the attention of all of you to the gross misconduct of TMC floor leader Derek OBrien in this august House a little earlier Derek OBrien raised some point of order to which honourable deputy chairman has duly responded A little later Derek OBrien flung the rule book furiously in the direction of the Chair The rule book would have hit the chair or secretary general or officials sitting at the table Patra said He further said the TMC leader has resorted to grave misconduct and gross violation of the rules of the House and norms of etiquette and conduct Being a floor leader Derek OBrien instead of setting high standards of conduct in the House set a bad example and in the process denigrated the dignity and stature of this august House This act of Derek OBrien is highly condemnable Patra said Soon after Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs V Muraleedharan moved a motion seeking his suspension from the House for the remainder of the Winter session for his unruly and contemptuous behaviour unbecoming of a member of Rajya Sabha by brazenly throwing the Rajya Sabha rule book towards the Chair during the discussion on the Election Laws Amendment Bill 2021 thereby bringing disrepute and shame to this august House The motion was put to vote and approved by the House through voice vote Opposition parties were not present during the vote as they had staged a walkout earlier The motion is adopted Derek OBrien therefore stands suspended from the remaining part of the current session Patra announced Six of the 12 MPs suspended on November 29 are from the Congress two each from TMC and Shiv Sena and one each from CPI and CPM The 12 suspended MPs are Phulo Devi Netam Chhaya Verma Ripun Bora Rajamani Patel Syed Nasir Hussain and Akhilesh Prasad Singh of the Congress Dola Sen and Shanta Chhetri of Trinamool Congress Priyanka Chaturvedi and Anil Desai of Shiv Sena Elamaram Kareem of CPM and Binoy Viswam of CPI PTI MJH MSS MBI NKD CS SMN

New Delhi Dec 21 PTI Parliament on Tuesday passed a Bill to link electoral roll data with the Aadhaar ecosystem with Rajya Sabha passing it by voice vote amid a walkout by the OppositionThe Election Laws Amendment Bill 2021 which was passed in Lok Sabha on Monday seeks to weed out fake voters from electoral rollsThe opposition parties were demanding a division of votes as they had moved a motion to send the Bill to a select committee which was rejected by voice voteTMC member Derek OBrien cited rules for a division of votes even as Deputy Chairman Harivansh urged members to go to their seats to enable the divisionHowever opposition members continued to raise slogans in the well OBrien threw the rule book on the table where officials sit and staged a walkoutRuling party members strongly condemned his behaviourMembers of Congress TMC Left parties DMK and NCP also walked out from the House in protestMembers of BJP JDU YSRCP AIADMK BJD and TMC-M supported the Bill saying it will help in eradicating duplicate and fake voters from electoral rollsEarlier Congress TMC CPI CPI-M DMK and Samajwadi Party opposed the Bill saying it infringes on voters right to privacyTerming the Bill very good Law Minister Kiren Rijiju said the legislation will help end fake and bogus voting in the country and make the electoral process credibleDismissing the Oppositions apprehensions about the Bill as baseless the minister said the Opposition was misinterpreting the Supreme Courts judgement on personal libertyThere is no basis of your opposition to the Bill The Election Commission and the government have held many meetings and the ECs biggest concern is that the same person has his or her name in multiple electoral rolls and there is no other system to check this Rijiju saidIn our democracy the electoral process should be clean and that can happen only if the electoral rolls are cleanThis Bill will be opposed only by those who take advantage of fake voting Otherwise there is no basis for opposing this Bill he saidThe Election Laws Amendment Bill 2021 seeks to allow electoral registration officers to seek Aadhaar number of people who want to register as voters for the purpose of establishing the identityIt also seeks to allow the electoral registration officers to ask for Aadhaar number from persons already included in the electoral roll for the purposes of authentication of entries in electoral roll and to identify registration of name of the same person in the electoral roll of more than one constituency or more than once in the same constituency At the same time the amendment Bill makes it clear that no application for inclusion of name in the electoral roll shall be denied and no entries in the electoral roll shall be deleted for inability of an individual to furnish or intimate Aadhaar number due to such sufficient cause as may be prescribedSuch people will be allowed to furnish other alternative documents as may be prescribed PTI SKC MSS DIV DIV

New Delhi Dec 18 PTI Disruptions in House are aberrations in democracy affecting the credibility and dignity of legislative institutions Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh said on Saturday Addressing an orientation programme for journalists in the Parliament House complexhe said the media has every right to highlight these challenges of democratic institutions but serious and constructive discussions of members should also get space He said it is very important to highlight the issues of public importance raised in the legislature important recommendations made by parliamentary committees and constructive work done by members of Parliament to sustain public trust and confidence Harivansh said Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu has time and again emphasised the need for effective use of precious parliamentary time to increase the productivity of the House and to restore public trust in parliamentary institutions He asserted that freedom is never absolute and freedom of speech and expression is subject to reasonable restrictions He highlighted that the media plays an important role in strengthening democratic institutions saying it is a vital interface between Parliament and the people of the country Freedom of the Press is indispensable for the successful functioning of democracy he noted Secretary-General P C Mody OSD to Rajya Sabha Secretariat Mukul Pande and former Secretary-General V KAgnihotri also addressed the gathering The two-day sensitisation programme for media persons covering parliamentary proceedings was organised by the Rajya Sabha Secretariat in Parliament House Annexe today The programme was attended by over 40 journalists from various print and electronic media organisations PTI SKC RT RT