Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal shouted down each other in the Rajya Sabha today, trading jabs over the political crises in Bihar and Jharkhand.

The Congress leader got the ball rolling by pointing out the oath-taking of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader Champai Soren, completed this afternoon, had been delayed by nearly 48 hours, while that of Janata Dal (United) boss Nitish Kumar was completed in less than a quarter of that time.

“Nitish Kumar ji gave his resignation with one hand and, with the other, took his oath. Why wasn’t this done… why wasn’t this done in Jharkhand,” he asked amid yelling by MPs from both sides.

The reference was to JDU boss Nitish Kumar’s dramatic jump – his second in as many years – from the opposition, in this case the Congress-led INDIA bloc, to the BJP-led NDA.

READ | Nitish Kumar Exits INDIA, To Be Sworn In For 9th Time, 2 Oaths In 2 Years

“They (referring to Jharkhand Governor CP Radhakrishnan) didn’t even make an announcement (on naming Mr Soren as a caretaker Chief Minister to ensure the functioning of government). When a list (of supporting MLAs) is given you should at least call for a vote of confidence,” Mr Kharge said.

READ | Champai Soren Takes Oath As Jharkhand Chief Minister

The Congress leader also flagged the fact Hemant Soren – who stepped down minutes before he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on money laundering charges – had named his successor, and that the nominee – Champai Soren – had the support of a majority of the Assembly.

“Nearly 43 MLAs signed… plus four others outside…”

READ | Jharkhand MLAs’ Roll Call Video Shown To Governor As Proof

“We are all in politics… we know the phrase ’till alternate arrangements can be made’. But even that was not done,” the Congress leader said, questioning the drama in Jharkhand this week.

Mr Goyal declared Mr Kharge’s words were “proof… the party has corruption in its DNA”.

“I am surprised… there is so much corruption in Jharkhand. The way in which the Chief Minister amassed land… there is so much proof. But still that Chief Minister is defended by the Congress.”

READ | Hemant Soren In 5-Day Custody, No Help From Supreme Court

“This itself shows corruption is in the Congress DNA. The Governor was making sure everything was in order… that all those who signed the list really supported Champai Soren,” he explained.

Mr Goyal then took a swipe at the Congress, saying, “It is not like Congress, which gave a list of MLAs and forged their signatures.” He was referring to the BJP’s 2018 allegations – that the Congress forged signatures of MLAs in a letter to the Governor claiming support to form the government.

The arrest of Hemant Soren and delays over the swearing-in of Champai Soren, who had been picked by the ruling JMM-Congress-Rashtriya Janata Dal alliance as the new Chief Minister, played out in Parliament today, with the opposition walking out of both Houses in support of Hemant Soren.

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In a scathing attack, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday challenged the Congress to take on the BJP in the Hindi heartland states and said she has doubts whether the grand old party will secure “even 40 seats” in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Ms Banerjee also criticised the Congress’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, which traversed through the state’s six districts, comparing it to a “mere photo opportunity” for “migratory birds” who have descended upon the state.

“I proposed that Congress contest 300 seats (across the country where BJP is the main opposition), but they refused to heed. Now, they’ve arrived in the state to stir up Muslim voters. I doubt whether they will secure even 40 seats if they contested 300,” Banerjee asserted.

Speaking during a dharna in Kolkata to demand the clearance of the state’s dues by the Centre, Ms Banerjee reiterated that her party was willing to form an alliance with the Congress for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal, but highlighted that it was the grand old party which declined her offer.

“We were open to an alliance, offering them two seats which they rejected. Now let them contest in all 42 seats alone. Since then, there has been no dialogue between us,” she remarked.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Will Indian troops be moved out of the Maldives? The two countries met in the national capital to decide on the same with New Delhi saying that they “agreed on a set of mutually workable solutions” with no mention of troops’ withdrawal. The Maldives, on the other hand, claimed that the Indian troops will be “replaced” by May.

“During the meeting, both sides continued their discussions on wide ranging issues related to bilateral cooperation towards identifying steps to enhance the partnership, including expediting the implementation of ongoing development cooperation projects,” said the Ministry of External Affairs in a statement.

“Both sides also agreed on a set of mutually workable solutions to enable continued operation of Indian aviation platforms that provide humanitarian and medvac services (medical evacuation) to the people of Maldives,” the Ministry added.

India has a deployment of nearly 100 personnel, including medical staff, to operate three aircraft to patrol the archipelago’s vast maritime territory.

“Both sides agreed that the Government of India will replace the military personnel in one of the three aviation platform by March 10 and will complete replacing military personnel in the other two platforms by May 10,” the Maldivian foreign ministry said today in a statement after the meeting.

The two sides decided to set up the core group following a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Muizzu on the sidelines of the COP28 summit in Dubai in December.

Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu came to power in September after pledging to evict Indian forces.

New Delhi considers the Indian Ocean archipelago to be within its sphere of influence, but the Maldives has shifted into the orbit of China – its largest external creditor.

Upon return from his first state visit to China in January, the President told India to withdraw its troops by March 15.