The Opposition submitted a motion indicating its intention to move a no-confidence motion against Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. Signed by about 120 MPs, the notice cited Birla’s “blatantly partisan manner” of conducting proceedings in the House and said that “leaders of Opposition parties have just not been allowed to speak” on several occasions.

Members of the Trinamool Congress were not among the signatories. Party leader Abhishek Banerjee said that the TMC wants to pursue a “constructive and calibrated” approach. Read on.

The Congress’ Assam unit filed a police complaint against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party for sharing a video depicting Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma symbolically firing at images of two Muslim men. Additionally, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Communist Party of India leader Annie Raja moved the Supreme Court seeking action against Sarma for remarks targeting the Muslim community.

Responding to the plea, Chief Justice Surya Kant observed that ahead of elections, political battles find their way into the Supreme Court. Elections in the state are expected to be held in March or April.

In their complaint, Congress MLAs Sibamoni Bora and Diganta Barman stated that the content of the video “targeting a particular community is highly provocative and communal, which will definitely lead [to] social disharmony”. Read on.

Himanta Sarma’s remarks about ‘Miyas’ make a mockery of the Constitution

An additional 2.4 lakh names were deleted in the final voter list in Assam as compared to the draft list in the special revision of the electoral rolls in the state. In the draft voter list released on December 27, the names of more than 10 lakh voters had been deleted.

There were 2.52 crore voters in the state, according to the draft list. The final list showed that Assam had 2.49 crore voters, which was a 0.97% decrease compared to the draft roll. Read on.

BJP workers in Assam say their names used to seek mass voter deletion – without their knowledge

The Allahabad High Court stayed a Sambhal court order directing the filing of a first information report against Additional Superintendent of Police Anuj Chaudhary in connection with allegations that a man had been shot and injured during an unrest in the town in November 2024.

The bench noted that the complainant, who is the father of the man who was allegedly shot, had earlier been granted 14 days to file a counter to the appeal filed by the police. The judge added that the stay would remain in effect until then. Read on.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi cited a December 2023 social media post by former Indian Army chief MM Naravane announcing that his memoir was “available now”. This came after the publisher of the book, Penguin Random House India, said that the memoir had not yet been published.

In his first comments since the row erupted, Naravane quoted this statement on social media to say “this is the status of the book”. On the other hand, Gandhi told reporters outside Parliament that he believes the 2023 statement of the former Army chief over the publisher. Read on.

After the White House released a fact sheet about the India-United States trade deal, the Congress said that the “Modi government is working to Make America Great Again”. The fact sheet said that New Delhi will eliminate or reduce tariffs on “all US industrial goods” and a wide range of American food and agricultural products.

This included “dried distillers’ grains, red sorghum, tree nuts, fresh and processed fruit, certain pulses, soybean oil, wine and spirits and additional products”. The Congress reacted to this by saying that in three days, “pulses have quietly entered the deal”. “It now looks like a rolling, expandable inventory, gradually widened to serve American export interests at the cost of Indian farmers,” said the party. Read on.

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