Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh, who was once hounded out of 10 Janpath soon after the United Progressive Alliance government took over four years ago, triumphantly announced on Tuesday that the National Security Advisor M K Narayanan would call on him at his residence on July 2 to explain the government's position on the Indo-US civil nuclear deal.
"The politburo wishes to point out that the UPA was formed to keep communal forces at bay. By taking such a step and the political consequences thereafter, that purpose will be undermined. We appeal to the partners of the Congress in the UPA to ensure that no such step is taken, which will help the communal forces," Karat said.
An announcement in this regard was made by Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee after his meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mohammad Qureshi, who is currently visiting India. Pranab also spoke about the threat posed by terrorism and said both the countries have to be 'unambiguous' in fighting the menace.
Their parleys, which staved off a breakdown between the Left and the ruling coalition for the time being, followed a series of meetings between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, United Progressive Alliance chairperson and Congress president Sonia Gandhi and top leaders of the party till late Thursday night.
Wednesday's critical United Progressive Alliance-Left meeting on the Indo-US nuclear deal ended with both sides agreeing to meet again soon. The date for the same is yet to be finalised
Among those attending the meeting from the government side were Defence Minister AK Anthony, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal. The Left parties were represented by the Communist Party of India's A B Bardhan and D Raja, and the CPI-M by Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechuri
Stressing that there is nothing secretive about the Indo-US nuclear deal, a senior Congress leader said the prime minister is ready to face Parliament before the deal is operationalised.
Minister for Rural Development Raghuvansh Prasad Singh on Monday declared that the United Progressive Alliance combination would return to power despite the Bharatiya Janata Party's claim that it was going to come to power. He blamed the media for creating differences between the Left parties and the UPA. He was addressing mediapersons on the eve of three day ministerial conference on rural development to be held in New Delhi beginning from Tuesday.
Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati has withdrawn her party's support to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre. Mayawati has accused the UPA of neglecting Uttar Pradesh and meting out step-motherly treatment to her party and the UP government.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh continues to be unwell, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee has postponed his visit to Australia by a day and Communist Party of India-Marxist General Secretary Prakash Karat has warned that the Left will withdraw support to the United Progressive Alliance government by Wednesday if the UPA continues to pursue the India-US nuclear deal.
The UPA government came under the mat for the 13-year-high in inflation with both its outside supporter Left and opposition Bharatiya Janata Party saying it was a "direct result" of hiking fuel prices steeply and "faulty" policies.
CPI-M has rejected all arguments of the government so far to sign the IAEA safeguards agreement. The party has firmly said that it believes once the IAEA phase is over, the deal will be on an 'auto-pilot' and even if India, a non-member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), does not approach the forum, the US would pressurise it to approve the deal.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Vaundhara Raje -- who is expected to meet Gujjar leader Karori Singh Bainsla later today -- will reach an agreement over the community's demand for a Scheduled Tribe status, according to Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Prakash Javadekar.
M Venkaiah Naidu launched a scathing attack on the Congress for calling statements of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi anti-national and saying he should be tried for treason. "What else can you expect from the Congress government but to launch treason proceedings against Modi and confer the Bharat Ratna on Mohammad Afzal Guru who was awarded death sentence for attacking Parliament in December 2001," he told rediff.com.
N N Vohra, the first bureaucrat to be appointed as the governor of Jammu and Kashmir in 18 years, told rediff.com that he expected the Centre to formally announce his appointment by Thursday.The government has asked Vohra to hold talks with all the political parties and prepare a comprehensive report on the steps that need to be taken to improve the situation in the troubled state. Vohra will succeed Lieutenant General S K Sinha, whose term expired last week.
Ravi Shankar Prasad, spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party, has said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's statement that the nuclear arsenel could fall into wrong hands needed further elaboration.
A probe has been ordered to find out how a television channel interviewed Mohammad Afzal inside Tihar jail. The move comes after director general of Tihar jail B K Gupta was pulled up by the Union home ministry.
Bhartiya Janata Party General Secretary Arun Jaitley, of who is leaving for a holiday after masterminding the party's victory in the Karnataka assembly election, is convinced that an alliance between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party is sure to make L K Advani prime minister of India.
Ali was apprehensive about meeting Dr Singh after so many years. "Will he receive me? Should I hug such a big man?" His doubts were laid to rest when Dr Singh, who arrived with his wife Gursharan Kaur, greeted his childhood friend with open arms.
The Central Bureau of Investigation arrested Assam Education minister Ripun Borah, while he was trying to offer a bribe of Rs 10 lakh to an officer investigating Daniel Toppo murder case
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances