The BJP game-plan: Take the top slot, or a close second, either for the 'Lotus' or the larger NDA, if it can and push the AIADMK to the third place, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
Bracing up for an Opposition onslaught in Parliament, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will host dinner for United Progressive Alliance leaders on Friday to firm up a joint strategy on various issues like Foreign Direct Investment that are expected to come up during the session beginning next week.
Banerjee wants the two top leaders of the United Progressive Alliance to nudge the Planning Commission into including some of her most important initiatives in the Railway Budget.
In the wake of Pakistan's refusal to extradite those guilty in the Mumbai terror attacks, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday accused the United Progressive Alliance government of converting the 'warning rhetoric into a bail-out plan' for the neighbouring country."It seems that the warning rhetoric of the UPA government against Pakistan has converted into a bail out plan for the neighbouring country from its participation in 26/11 attack in Mumbai," BJP said.
One of the ministers said they are going back to Ranchi for a Cabinet meeting scheduled on Thursday.
A controversy has erupted over the reported remarks of Central Bureau of Investigation chief Ranjit Sinha that the United Progressive Allianc government would have been happy if the Bharatiya Janata Party leader Amit Shah was named as accused in Ishrat Jahan case chargesheet, a comment which he has denied.
Following his arrest, support for Baba Ramdev seems to pour in. While the Bharatiya Janata Party declared a 24-hour satyagrah, the Uttarakhand chief minister assured the Baba that he could continue his protest in the state if he wanted to. With the Left and Samajwadi Party joining in to criticise the UPA, th government seems isolated
Joshi alleged that in many of the cases there has been a hundred per cent rise in the price of commodities. He also said that the UPA government is ignoring the plight of farmers.
The Ambani brothers -- Mukesh and Anil -- have emerged among the biggest beneficiaries of the people's mandate in favour of the Congress-led UPA government as their group companies added close to Rs 90,000 crore (Rs 900 billion) of wealth in just five trading sessions after the results were declared.
The NDA's combined parliamentary and state-level committed Presidential votes number around 12,000 fewer than a majority.
Complaining that the ruling UPA was treating it like an 'outsider' on the issue of dealing with Pakistan, the SP said it was under 'tremendous pressure' from its cadres as the government was not doing anything against the neighbouring country despite the Mumbai attacks.
Rulers in New Delhi and their political aides in sensitive states like Tamil Nadu have to be doubly careful not to provoke a situation whose consequences may be much more than visible now to the naked eye, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Friday expressed his regret that the Other Backward Class (OBC) quota was not provided under the Bill brought by United Progressive Alliance (UPA) in 2010.
He wanted changes in certain criteria for the project.
England stuck to their gameplan in the second innings, attacking the spinners at every opportunity as the Indians came undone and clearly looked bereft of ideas.
Consensus continued to elude the Women's Reservation Bill which is unlikely to see the light of the day during the current session of Parliament.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad on Tuesday said his party would contest the Lok Sabha polls in Bihar in alliance with the Congress, the Nationalist Congress Party and the Lok Janashakti Party, but ruled out conceding more than 13 seats given to the United Progressive Alliance allies in 2004 elections.
BJP leaders and Union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Anurag Thakur had accused Gandhi of insulting OBCs.
Disapproving of Janata Dal-United's remarks against Narendra Modi, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday firmly stood behind the Gujarat chief minister saying no "unfounded inferences" should be drawn against him
'The space required for wild cheetah populations to thrive was grossly under-estimated.' 'Cheetahs, because of their social system and ecologically fragile nature, live at only 1 cheetah per 100 sq kms even in the best habitats of Africa.'
Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi is expected to attend the next meeting of opposition parties in Bengaluru on July 17 and 18, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said on Monday.
Charging the United Progressive Alliance with lacking "political decency" in evolving a consensus candidate for the Presidential poll, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday said its decision to back former Lok Sabha Speaker P A Sangma was in keeping with "anti-Congress, anti- UPA mood" in the country.
United Progressive Alliance allies on Monday expressed full support to the government over its refusal to agree to a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the 2G spectrum scam, an issue that has paralysed Parliament proceedings for the last 12 working days. Against the backdrop of some UPA constituents appearing not being averse to the JPC probe, the government on Monday held a luncheon meeting of its allies to devise a common strategy.
She has shown shrewdness, sensitivity, and courage. All of these will be needed in ample quantities for the real challenge that will emerge after the elections, notes Shreekant Sambrani.
"By stating before the Supreme Court that there is no proof that Ram Sethu is a place of worship or that it is an integral part of Hindu religion, the UPA has once again tried to abuse and hurt Hindu sentiments," party spokesperson Ravi Shanker Prasad told reporters in Delhi.
According to DMK, the voters are already consolidated on ideological lines, hence the impact of anti-incumbency, whether against the BJP Centre or the DMK state may not be too much, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
A survey carried out by television channel CNN-IBN has revealed that an overwhelming number of voters believe that the government has lost the faith of the public.
Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde on Tuesday expressed confidence that the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance would once again form the government at the Centre and refuted claims that the country had been swept up in a Modi wave.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Thursday attacked Congress saying 62 big scams involving around Rs 20 lakh crore have taken place during the UPA regime at the Centre.
After his meeting with Rahul Gandhi, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Tuesday said there can be no opposition front without the Congress, in a clear message to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over her 'no United Progressive Alliance' taunt, even as another ally Nationalist Congress Party asserted it will make every effort to form a broad-based alliance that will also include the Congress.
Virtually launching the party's campaign for 2014 elections, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday talked about the need to "heal the wounds" of Kashmiris and connect its aspiring youths with the national mainstream for the development of the state.
The TMC general secretary, considered number two in the party, shared the letter sent to him by the central agency on X, formerly Twitter.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday expressed confidence that the NDA will get more than 400 seats and the BJP will win at least 370 seats in the Lok Sabha elections.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is not a threat to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance but a threat to the Bharatiya Janata Party led-National Democratic Alliance itself, as proved by the developments following his elevation as the BJP poll panel chief, his Assam counterpart Tarun Gogoi said on Saturday. "Modi is not a threat to the UPA. Modi is a threat to NDA itself," he said.
He maintained it is not 'hope' but the 'fact' of a stable government provided by UPA and the numerous measures taken in the last 18 months that have provided stability and strength to the Indian economy.
The 10-year tenure of UPA-II will formally come to an end on Saturday after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh calls on President Pranab Mukherjee and submits resignation of his government.
A day after the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Biju Janata Dal announced support for party leader P A Sangma's candidature, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Friday said his party's stand on the Presidential election will be consistent with that of the United Progress Alliance.
Bad economics does not always mean good politics. Its time UPA woke up to that.
