Political churning to intensify as RS Deputy Chairman election approaches
New Delhi, June 25: The political churning for election of new Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman in place of P. J. Kurien, who is retiring on July 1, is expected to pick up momentum in the coming days with the announcement on Monday of the schedule for Parliament's Monsoon Session.
The election of new Deputy Chairman will be on the top of agenda of the upper house of parliament when it meets for the monsoon session on July 18.
The election will be a test of the strength of opposition which has been signalling a combined fight against BJP-led NDA in the next Lok Sabha polls.
An opposition leader said that looking at the numbers in Rajya Sabha, there was a probability of a candidate who does not belong to either the BJP or Congresss getting elected to the post.
Opposition numbers have also gone up with TDP leaving the ruling BJP-led NDA in March this year and the BJP parting ways with the People's Democratic Party earlier this month.
A contest is likely for the post with neither the NDA, not the Congress-led UPA having a clear majority support, and much depending on stance of parties such as Biju Janata Dal, Telangana Rashtra Samithi, AIADMK and YSRCP.
There is speculation that a combined opposition could support a BJD candidate for the post but party sources said the subject had not been broached with the party so far formally or informally. They said the issue had also not been deliberated within the party.
BJD has been keeping an equidistance from both the BJP and the Congress.
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Man arrested with Rs 2.54-crore heroin in Mumbai
Mumbai (PTI): Police have arrested a man and seized over 500 grams of heroin worth Rs 2.54 crore in the illicit market from him in Mumbai, officials said on Friday.
The police's Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) made the drug seizure in Santacruz in the western suburbs. The operation was conducted by the Kandivali unit of the ANC on Thursday as part of a special crackdown against drug trafficking in the area, they said.
Acting on specific inputs, an ANC team conducted a raid in Santacruz (East) and intercepted a man. During a search, the team recovered 508 grams of high-grade heroin from his possession, an official said.
The seized contraband, a highly addictive, opioid drug derived from morphine, is estimated to be worth Rs 2.54 crore in the international market, he informed.
Following the seizure, a case was registered against the man under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, and he was formally placed under arrest in the early hours of Friday.
The police are currently investigating the source of the drug and trying to identify the intended recipients of the consignment, he said.
