The next 10 days will tell you whether the United Progressive Alliance and its leading constituent, the Congress, have learnt the right lessons from their poor performance in the assembly elections held in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Goa.
Is Mamata Banerjee's decision to support United Progressive Alliance's presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee going to change the dynamics of opposition politics in West Bengal? Both Congress and Communist Party of India Marxist rule out that possibility and insist that instead the heat would be more and more on the ruling Trinamool Congress in the coming days.
Without ruling out the possibility of working with the Congress after polls, Akhilesh said he has good relations with the party and would be 'happy' if the next prime minister was from his home state.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday arrived in Beijing along with her family to attend the Olympics opening ceremony. Sonia, 61, is accompanied by her MP son Rahul, daughter Priyanka, son-in-law Robert Vadra and two grandchildren.
The Congress is all set to fire the first major salvo against Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati when Rahul Gandhi flags off 10 simultaneous yatras on April 14, which would cover the entire state and carry the message of the Congress and the United Progressive Alliance's achievements and mark the 20 years which the state of Uttar Pradesh has "existed" without Congress rule.
The Congress has also asked the prime minister's office to co-ordinate better with various ministries over the issue of inflation.
According to senior leaders, the prime minister's assistance could be taken to mollify Banerjee. If the PM, for whom Banerjee has great respect, were to talk to her before Mukherjee visits Kolkata on July 8, then there could be chances of a turnaround in the TMC's position
With Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Bannerji refusing to budge from her stand against the UPA government's decision allowing 51 per cent FDI in retail, the Congress party's spin doctors are working overtime to project the decision favourably to the country. Sheela Bhatt reports
The work on seat sharing with other allies will begin from Thursday, he told reporters.
Congress on Monday described the Interim Budget as "remarkable" while voicing confidence that its various allocations coupled with the government's performance would help the party hop back to power in the next Lok Sabha elections.
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Friday said the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government has no "moral right to continue in office" in the wake of several scams.
A section of the party, including some OBC leaders, feel that the Congress should give up this dilemma for its own good\nas it would not be politically wise to allow parties like DMK, PMK and RJD to run away with the credit.
A blame game began in the Congress on Tuesday as it failed in its bid to come back to power in Haryana after 10 years, with senior party leader Kumari Selja saying the party high command should assess all reasons that led to the disappointing result and identify the people responsible.
Karat had on Thursday said the vice-president should be a person who has an exemplary record in some field and should have the widest acceptance.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said that the Congress is ready to discuss issues with nationalist Congress Party issues that concern them even as Congress President Sonia Gandhi declined comments on the stand-off with the coalition partner.
Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday slammed the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre for defending the appointment of P J Thomas as the Central Vigilance Commissioner.
United Progressive Alliance chairperson and Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday expressed the Congress' readiness to face elections while Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sought to play down speculation that the country was headed for mid-term polls. "Not at all. If there are elections you face it," Gandhi said.
Annoyed over Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee's rejection of Pranab Mukherjee as one of the United Progressive Alliance's possible presidential candidates, the West Bengal Congress on Thursday said it would discuss pulling out of the TC-led government in the state.
Having rejected the three names proposed by the Trinamool Congress and the Samajwadi Party combine, the Congress is expected to come out with the name of the United Progressive Alliance candidate either on Thursday or Friday.
The senior Paswan sought an appointment and waited for more than three months but Rahul Gandhi did not relent, said Chirag Paswan, who at that time too was keen to leave the UPA and join the National Democratic Alliance.
In a letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, he said, in the recent past he has been finding himself 'lacking in passion', while his own performance has been 'listless and perfunctory'.
Bardhan has said they must remember that they do not have a majority and cannot do without Left support.
The Communist parties warned the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance coalition not to take their support for granted. \n\n
Flaying the United Progressive Alliance government for its 'unilateral' decision on the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, Telugu Desam Party President N Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday said the Congress is not in a position to convince its members on the tumultuous issue of "equal justice" for people of Telangana as well as Seemandhra.
Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial nominee and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Friday accused the Congress party and the United Progressive Alliance government of conniving with terrorist outfit Indian Mujahideen, suspected to have played a key role behind the serial blasts at his Patna rally last month.
The Sri Lankan government had recently announced a 48-hour ceasefire solely due to the efforts of the United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre, the Congress party said in the Tamil Nadu assembly on Tuesday.
We can sort out certain sensitive issues with the Left, we can put aside certain economic reforms, but there will not be day-to-day skirmishes with them, a senior Congress leader tells Sheela Bhatt
The Congress MP representing Barpeta Lok Sabha Constituency in Assam, AF Golam Osmani who is known for his running feud with the state party leadership, has dropped enough hints that he may abstain for casting his vote during the trust vote. It may prove disastrous for the UPA government if the MP plays truant on July 22.
Enthused by the prospect of mid-term polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday sought to puncture the Congress' stability plank and said it was not in the ruling party's DNA to run a coalition government. Ridiculing efforts by the Congress and the Left to end the nuclear stalemate, the saffron party said that the quarrelsome partners have paralysed governance and the nation is tired and fatigued by the "farce and misadventure called the United Progressive Alliance."
Congress president Sonia Gandhi is hosting a dinner for United Progressive Alliance MPs and supporting parties on July 18, the eve of the Presidential election to consolidate the victory of its Presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee. The election is to be held on July 19.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday sternly criticised the United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre, saying it has disappointed people of the country with a series of scams coming to light and by ignoring burning issues such as price hike.
It was a day of embarrassment for the Congress-lead United Progressive Alliance as Suresh Kalmadi, the Congress member of Parliament from Pune and the former chairman of the Commonwealth Games was arrested for alleged conspiracy in awarding a contract for the Games to a Swiss company at an inflated cost of Rs. 141 crore.
Hitting back at Narendra Modi for his criticism of the United Progressive Alliance, the Congress on Saturday said the soul of Hitler's propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels seemed to have entered the "frustrated" Gujarat chief minister and accused him of crossing the laxman rekha.
Upping the ante, sulking Nationalist Congress Party on Tuesday warned the Congress that if its demands like a coordination committee for the United Progressive Alliance coalition and better treatment of allies were not resolved by Wednesday, it would pull out from the government.
The Congress on Monday emphasised once again that the United Progressive Alliance was not scrapping the India-United States nuclear agreement right now and said that it was making efforts to allay the apprehensions of the Left allies over the agreement. "There is no backing off right now," said All India Congress Committee spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed. He was responding to questions on whether the Indo-US nuclear deal had been put on hold in view of the opposition.
A weak and troubled United Progressive Alliance government has stumbled badly by issuing the ordinance to counter the fine judgment by the Supreme Court that forces the disqualification of lawmakers convicted for a criminal offence punishable with a jail term of over two years.
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.
The Congress is now at its most vulnerable. For the moment, it has weathered the storm caused by the DMK, but not without some loss of credibility and appeal, says Praful Bidwai.
On Saturday, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam ministers had pulled out from the United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre. The DMK had also issued an ultimatum that they were willing to give the Congress 60 seats in the forthcoming assembly elections. If the Congress were to accept this offer then the DMK ministers would withdraw their resignations. If this offer was not accepted the DMK would prefer to give the Congress issue-based support in Parliament.
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