Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, a key ally of Congress-led United Progressive Alliance, on Wednesday announced it would contest coming local body elections in Tamil Nadu on its own, saying alliances were required only for Lok Sabha and assembly polls.
A day before the July 19 Presidential poll, Congress President Sonia Gandhi will host a lunch for the members of Parliament of the United Progressive Alliance and supporting parties.
'More than 9.5% new voters have been added to the electoral voters' list compared to the 2024 Lok Sabha election.' 'This led to an increase in about 5% to 6% in total votes polled for this assembly election.' 'That has tilted hugely in our favour because we worked hard for registration of these voters and concentrated on bringing out these new voters out during this assembly election.'
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday attacked Congress, accusing it of trying to help Communist Party of India-Marxist in the coming civic polls in West Bengal and virtually compared its United Progressive Alliance partner to collaborators of Pakistani army during Bangladesh liberation war.
Expressing confidence that the United Progressive Alliance will retain power after the Lok Sabha elections, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Monday said he was not averse to the idea of cobbling together a government with the Third Front should the Centre's ruling alliance fall short of a majority.
United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Monday undertook an aerial survey of the flood-affected Kurnool and Mahabubnagar districts of Andhra Pradesh.
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.
Congress on Monday claimed that the United Progressive Alliance government is "strong and stable" despite the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen becoming the third constituent to withdraw support after Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress and Babualal Marandi's Jharkhand outfit.
The National Democratic Alliance on Thursday got another jolt in the Presidential race with the Janata Dal-United becoming the second NDA ally after Shiv Sena to break ranks with Bharatiya Janata Party to support United Progressive Alliance candidate Pranab Mukherjee.
Reconciling with division within the National Democratic Alliance over Presidential poll, Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday announced its support to P A Sangma to pit him against United Progressive Alliance candidate Pranab Mukherjee.
Lone member of the Rajya Sabha from Mizoram Lalhming Liana on Friday said he would not support the United Progressive Alliance government when voting takes place in the upper house on Foreign Direct Investment in retail.
The party's research department team, which Rajya Sabha member M V Rajeev Gowda heads, has sifted through the suggestions received in the last five months, and the manifesto is slated to be released later this month, reports Archis Mohan.
Key United Progressive Alliance ally Nationalist Congress Party on Tuesday apparently took a dig at Rahul Gandhi's elevation in the Congress, saying the party had appointed a vice president whenever it faced serious problems.
Triumphant over the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in making it swallow threat to quit the United Progressive Alliance government, Congress president Sonia Gandhi has asked the party managers to strike a similar hard bargain with Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress for alliance in the upcoming West Bengal assembly elections.
After the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam pulled out of the United Progressive Alliance government on Saturday night after a fall out over seat sharing, the big question being asked in the power corridors in New Delhi was whether the Congress will go alone in the upcoming Tamil Nadu polls.
Pawar will not restrict himself to the Rashtrapati Bhavan," the minister from the NCP said.
Countering the government's and Congress' allegations that the National Democratic Alliance has been an irresponsible and disruptive opposition, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday said the Manmohan Singh led government is not keen on passing the Food Security Bill and the Land Acquisition Bill. The main opposition also picked holes in the UPA report card on its performance in the last four years and said it is making false claims of success.
The central government will hold an all-party meeting this week to finalise a strategy to resolve the Maoist problem decisively in the wake of the audacious attack in Bastar that killed 27 people, including three prominent Congress leaders.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance is poised to cross 220 seats, well ahead of the United Progressive Alliance and within striking distance of forming a government in 2014 if elections are held today.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi arrived here today in the wake of the deadly Naxal attack on a convoy of Congress leaders in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district.
United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Sunday said that while the Congress ensured equitable and uniform development in all areas, the National Democratic Alliance rule was biased against states ruled by her party.
Karra, who became the J&K Congress chief last Friday replacing Vikar Rasool Wani, said a call is already there for all secular parties who are opposed to the "hegemonic attitude" of the BJP to unite.
Dr Singh was extremely reluctant to address the press conference and he agreed only after considerable persuasion from senior Congress leaders, says Anita Katyal
The Congress is showing a combative mood in defence of the party-led United Progressive Alliance's policy on coal allocation.
Senior Congress leader Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi's wife Deepa had on Sunday said that though the Trinamool was part of the United Progressive Alliance government, yet it issued statements against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and government policies. Also, she charged that Mamata put no photos of either Dr Singh or Congress chief Sonia Gandhi when she inaugurated projects in West Bengal.
In an exclusive interview to IBN network, Samajwadi Party Chief Mulayam Singh Yadav ruled out any possibility of withdrawing support to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government. But he speculated that the Congress party will go in for an early general election, possibly by November 2013.
The Haryana victory will be a morale booster for the Bharatiya Janata Party and increase its bargaining power in the Mahayuti's seat-sharing talks for the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections, according to political analysts.
United Progressive Alliance Presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee is expected to file four sets of nomination papers signed by top UPA leaders, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Thursday.
Key UPA constituent Trinamool Congress, however, may propose the name of former West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi as Mamata Banerjee is not quite enthusiastic about Ansari's candidature for second term
Rae Bareli and Amethi -- the respective parliamentary constituencies of United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, have ceased to enjoy a VVIP status, following withdrawal of "no power cut" order by the Akhilesh Yadav government.
"These are irrelevant questions. It's all smoke." This was how Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi described speculation about his becoming the prime minister and getting married while addressing business barons of the country.
An alliance between the Congress and the Jharkhand Vikas Manch for assembly elections in Jharkhand is likely to be finalised in the next two days.
An unholy row has broken out in the Parliament House between the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance and its most critical alliance partner, the Trinamool Congress, over a room for the new Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi.
Despite United Progressive Alliance ally Nationalist Congress Party targetting him, the Congress on Saturday ruled out removal of Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance is projected to form the government at the Centre with exit polls on Monday night giving between 249 and 290 seats to the Narendra Modi-led grouping, which is close to the half-way mark in the 543-member Lok Sabha.
Chidambaram hit out at former Bharatiya Janata Party Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha, saying he was a 'distant memory' for the people of India.
Opposition National Democratic Alliance and estranged United Progressive Alliance ally Trinamool Congress on Friday criticised the decision to allow Foreign Direct Investment in multi-brand retail, saying government has surrendered to crony capitalism and feared that the policy will spell doom for farmers and small traders.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday criticised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's remarks that those who oppose Foreign Direct Investment in retail are "ignorant", saying it is not the Opposition which is ignorant, but the United Progressive Alliance government and the Congress Party.
Faced with one crisis after another, the beleaguered ruling alliance desperately needs a seasoned politician like Pranab Mukherjee to bail it out, says Anita Katyal
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