Oppn seeks panel to look into Pegasus, farm deaths

Seven Opposition parties petitioned President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday, urging his intervention in the formation of a joint select committee of Parliament to probe Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar’s statement that there was no record of the farmers who had died during the ongoing agitation. The Opposition MPs also sought a select committee to look into the Pegasus issue.

Govt thinking of curtailing session, says Congress

The Congress parliamentary strategists are learnt to have declined government offer to seek clarification on the Pegasus statement by IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw as a solution to run Parliament. The government is said to have conveyed to the Opposition that it was ready to allow clarifications on a statement already made to the two houses — Lok Sabha on July 19, Rajya Sabha on July 21 — by Vaishnaw.

BJP, Congress engage in war of words over OBC quota

The BJP and Congress on Saturday sparred over OBC outreach by their respective governments with the ruling party hailing PM Narendra Modi for reserving 27 per cent seats in the all-India medical quota for backward classes and the Opposition accusing the government of usurping state rights to draft their own OBC lists.