The Monsoon session of Parliament has now gone 88 days without being formally closed, a new record. Both Houses adjourned on August 13 with no set return date.
Keeping the session open has fuelled talk of a short-notice sitting on a constitutional amendment tied to the Women's Reservation Bill, which would take the Lok Sabha from 543 seats to as many as 850.
An extra sitting needs only two days' notice, while a fresh session needs 14. A similar amendment fell short of the numbers in the Lok Sabha on April 17.
BJP spokesperson Baldev Tomar says rifts in the Himachal Pradesh Congress are now out in the open. He pointed to Kullu MLA Sunder Singh Thakur reportedly saying he could leave the party if he isn't made a minister by December 11.
Tomar called it a serious test for Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu. Thakur had reportedly voiced anger to party workers, and Sukhu had earlier signalled that he could join the Cabinet.
Tomar wants the Congress leadership to explain the delay in expanding the Cabinet. All eyes will be on the decision made before December 11.
An FIR has been filed against Congress MLA Bhushan Bara in Jharkhand under the POCSO and Juvenile Justice Acts over a rape allegation, Hatia DSP Niraj Kumar said on Friday.
Bara, who represents the 70-Simdega seat, has dismissed the charges as a fabricated conspiracy by his political opponents. BJP leaders and workers protested in Ranchi the same day and demanded his arrest without delay.
Seema Sharma, president of the Jharkhand BJP Mahila Morcha, wants him removed from office, and Ranchi City BJP chief Varun Kumar Sahu has warned of continued protests if he is not arrested.
NCP (SP) national working president Supriya Sule says no merger proposal has reached her. Speaking in New Delhi, she said any chance of the two factions coming back together ended when her cousin Ajit Pawar died.
NCP Maharashtra chief Sunil Tatkare has also dismissed the speculation. Sule called a recent meeting of senior leaders with Amit Shah an internal matter.
She said merger talks did take place while Ajit Pawar was alive, and a video of one such meeting in Baramati is already public.
Telangana Labour Minister Vivek Venkatswamy has attacked the BJP and BRS over their opposition to the Bharat Summit 2026, saying the opposition has little left to offer.
Damodar Rao Aveli of the TPCC added that the state government, not Congress, is organising the event, and accused both parties of petty stunts.
The two-day summit runs November 13 and 14 in Hyderabad, with about 1,000 delegates from India and around 70 nations. It also marks 80 years of Indian independence and Jawaharlal Nehru's 137th birth anniversary.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi marked 50 years of Prashanti Kutiram, the Bengaluru campus of S-VYASA University. He also honoured H.V. Sheshadri, a former RSS general secretary, on his 100th birth anniversary.
Modi kicked off work on a new administrative block at the university and released six of Sheshadri's books. He also said yoga is spreading worldwide, citing Saudi Arabia's move to recognise it as a sport.
He cited a World Bank report saying nearly 50 crore Indians have left extreme poverty in 12 to 13 years. He urged the university to draft a 25-year roadmap for Viksit Bharat.
