Opposition to boycott election of RS deputy chairman: Jairam Ramesh
New Delhi (PTI): The opposition will boycott the election of the deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha as a mark of protest against the Modi government not appointing a deputy speaker in the Lok Sabha for seven years, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said on Thursday.
The government had not had any meaningful consultations on the matter either, the Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X. He added that the opposition hopes "Harivansh 3.0" will be more accommodative of and receptive to its requests.
"First, the Modi government has not appointed a Deputy Speaker in the Lok Sabha for 7 years. This has never happened before.
"Second, the Deputy Speaker’s counterpart in the Rajya Sabha is the Deputy Chairman. Shri Harivansh’s second term ended on April 9th. A day later he was nominated by the President of India as a member of the Rajya Sabha and he is now the NDA’s candidate for Deputy Chairman for a third term," Ramesh said in his post.
Never before has a person nominated by the president to the Rajya Sabha been considered for the post of its deputy chairman, he said.
Third, all this is being done without any meaningful consultations with the Opposition, the Congress leader said.
"For these three reasons and as a mark of protest - but not with any disrespect to the very learned Shri Harivansh - the Opposition has regretfully decided to boycott the election of the Deputy Chairman scheduled for April 17," Ramesh said.
The Rajya Sabha will hold the election for the post of deputy chairman on April 17. The ruling NDA is likely to push for re-electing Harivansh to the key post.
The post of the deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha fell vacant after Harivansh's tenure of Harivansh ended on April 9. Harivansh has since been nominated to the Upper House by President Droupadi Murmu and took oath on April 10.
Union minister and BJP leader J P Nadda, who is also leader of the house in the Rajya Sabha, is learnt to have discussed the re-election of Harivansh as deputy chairman with leaders of various parties, while trying to bring about a broad consensus on his name.
However, the Congress, TMC and Left parties raised objections to the ruling party's "keenness" in holding elections for filling the post when the post of deputy speaker in Lok Sabha has been vacant since 2019.
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Iran reimposes restrictions on Strait of Hormuz, accusing US of violating deal to reopen it
Cairo (AP): Iran swiftly reversed course on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, reimposing restrictions on the critical waterway on Saturday after the US said it would not end its blockade of Iran-linked shipping.
Iran's joint military command said on Saturday that “control of the Strait of Hormuz has returned to its previous state ... under strict management and control of the armed forces.” It warned that it would continue to block transit through the strait as long as the US blockade of Iranian ports remained in effect.
The announcement came the morning after US President Donald Trump said that even after Iran announced the strait's reopening on Friday, the American blockade “will remain in full force” until Tehran reaches a deal with the US, including on its nuclear programme.
The conflict over the chokepoint threatened to deepen the energy crisis roiling the global economy after oil prices began to fall again on Friday on hopes the US and Iran were drawing closer to an agreement. Roughly one-fifth of the world's oil passes through the strait, and further limits would squeeze already constrained supply, driving prices higher once again.
Control over the strait has proven to be one of Iran's main points of leverage and prompted the United States to deploy forces and initiate a blockade on Iranian ports as part of an effort to force Iran to accept a Pakistan-brokered ceasefire to end almost seven weeks of war that has raged between Israel, the US and Iran.
Iran said it fully reopened the Strait of Hormuz to commercial vessels after a 10-day truce was announced between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon. But after Trump said the blockade would continue, top Iranian officials said his announcement violated last week's ceasefire agreement between Iran and the US and warned the strait would not stay open if the US blockade remained in effect.
A data firm, Kpler, said movement through the strait remained confined to corridors requiring Iran's approval.
US forces have sent 21 ships back to Iran since the blockade began on Monday, US Central Command said on X.
Truce in Lebanon could help US-Iran peace efforts
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The ceasefire in Lebanon could clear one major obstacle to an agreement. But it was unclear to what extent Hezbollah would abide by a deal it did not play a role in negotiating, and which will leave Israeli troops occupying a stretch of southern Lebanon.
Trump said in another post that Israel is “prohibited” by the US from further strikes on Lebanon and that “enough is enough” in the Israel-Hezbollah war.
The State Department said the prohibition applies only to offensive attacks and not to actions taken in self-defence.
Shortly before Trump's post, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel agreed to the ceasefire in Lebanon “at the request of my friend President Trump,” but that the campaign against Hezbollah is not complete.
He claimed Israel had destroyed about 90 per cent of Hezbollah's missile and rocket stockpiles and added that Israeli forces “have not finished yet” with the dismantling of the group.
In Beirut, displaced families began moving toward southern Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs despite warnings by officials not to return to their homes until it became clear whether the ceasefire would hold.
The Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon reported sporadic artillery shelling in some parts of southern Lebanon in the hours after the ceasefire took effect.
An end to Israel's war with Hezbollah was a key demand of Iranian negotiators, who previously accused Israel of breaking last week's ceasefire with strikes on Lebanon. Israel had said that the deal did not cover Lebanon.
The fighting has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, more than 2,290 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Thirteen US service members have also been killed.
