Faced with poll debacle in four states, the Congress is expected to hold a 'chintan shivir'.
With the Congress-led government taking most of the credit for the passage of the Women's Reservation Bill in Rajya Sabha, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday patted its own back for the success and criticised the United Progressive Alliance for the forcible eviction of protesting Members of Parliament from the House. Despite being in a minority in the Upper House, the Congress-led government and especially party chief Sonia Gandhi earned kudos for passage of the Bill.
Moderate turnout was recorded in the first four hours of polling across five assembly constituencies across Punjab, West Bengal, Gujarat and Kerala where bypolls are underway on Thursday.
Thapar had strong reservations about Project Cheetah, India's initiative to reintroduce African cheetahs into the wild. He argued that India does not have the necessary habitat or prey base to support free-ranging cheetahs and that the authorities lacked experience in managing spotted felines in the wild.
The Congress on Friday said it would pull out its ministers from the West Bengal government, days after the Trinamool Congress decided to withdraw support to the United Progressive Alliance government.
Regional parties currently outside the ambit of both United Progressive Alliance and the National Democratic Alliance will hold the key to formation of next government at the Centre in 2014 with BJP-led alliance projected well ahead of the ruling UPA headed by Congress, an election survey has predicted.
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.
Standard and Poor's (S&P) in its report released on Monday 'Will India Be The First BRIC Fallen Angel?' said: "Slowing GDP growth and political roadblocks to economic policy making could put India at risk of losing its investment grade rating".
He served as an effective link between the party and government during the two terms of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) between 2004 and 2014. As political secretary to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, he had access to leadership that no other leader in the party had and worked the channels to work out various issues.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
The Sena's remarks come in the wake of Mamata Banerjee's recent visit to Mumbai, in which she made a cryptic statement that 'there is no UPA now'.
The previous United Progressive Alliance government had undertaken some decisions, like introduction of retrospective tax amendments and GAAR, which had dented investor sentiments.
It is now an imperative need to find a third alternative at the Centre after the failure of the Congress-led UPA alliance and the Bharatiya Janata Party-led combine's potential of being a threat to the country's secular fabric, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya said. The issue would be vigorously deated at the CPI-M Congress beginning in Coimbatore on March 29, Bhattacharya, a party politbureau member, told a Left Front rally in Kolkata.
Senior Trinamool Congress leaders on Tuesday said that quitting the United Progressive Alliance government had brought them a sense of freedom and relief.
Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday announced her decision to withdraw from the Congress-led ruling United Progressive Alliance.
Disrespect to alliance partners during Pratibha Patil's Goa tour to seek support for presidential poll is one of the reasons why the Congress-led government plunged into minority, former chief minister Churchill Alemao said.
Many exit polls predicted that SP-BSP alliance in Uttar Pradesh is likely to trump the BJP in the country's politically most crucial state.
Releasing the manifesto titled 'Badlav Ka Sankalp' (commitment to change) in the presence of All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala and other Mahagathbandhan leaders, Tejashwi Yadav said their government, if elected, would first approve the process for appointments on about 10 lakh jobs in the government.
Census exercise with caste enumeration will be carried out with the reference date of October 1, 2026, in snow-bound areas like Ladakh and of March 1, 2027, in the rest of the country, the Home Ministry announced on Wednesday.
The Congress is showing a combative mood in defence of the party-led United Progressive Alliance's policy on coal allocation.
Key United Progressive Alliance ally Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and opposition Bharatiya Janata Party were on the same page on Sunday in their criticism of the Centre and the Congress over the handling of the Telangana statehood issue, which has spawned a crisis in Andhra Pradesh.
The United Progressive Alliance's first anniversary celebrations tomorrow are essentially going to be a Congress affair. Barring Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee, no other top leader of any of the ally or supporting parties is expected to be present at the bash to mark six years in office of the Congress-led coalition.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi on Tuesday announced that his party was pulling out of the ruling United Progressive Alliance over its stance on the Lankan Tamils issue.
West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Friday said her party did not want to topple the United Progressive Alliance government, of which it is a constituent, but insisted the Congress-led dispensation should also do its part properly, especially in controlling prices.
BJP IT department head Amit Malviya shared on Twitter what he said were the details of accidents under these ministers and added such 'worthies' are the ones demanding the resignation of the 'most qualified' railway minister the country has had in seven and half decades.
The Sensex and the Nifty reached an intra-day low of 18,939 levels and 5,724 mark, respectively.
Do you, dear readers, believe that India needs FDI in retail sector or do you feel that it will be detrimental for the economy?
Incumbent Hamid Ansari is the United Progressive Alliance's candidate for the Vice President's post and he is all set to get a second consecutive term.
For the first time in 25 years, all the trade unions, including INTUC and Bharatiya Janata Party-affiliated Bhartiya Majdoor Sangh have forged an ideological link on the issue of price rise and food security. These TUs would launch a fill-the-jail campaign on March five across the country, the CPI leader said.
Trinamool Congress strategy of opposing the United Progressive Alliance candidate has raised question mark over its continuance in the Congress-led coalition.
Sheela Bhatt analyzes how Sonia Gandhi's leadership has failed her party, and how India has suffered
Chidambaram pitched for greater autonomy for the restive Jammu and Kashmir yet again on Sunday, drawing stinging criticism from the Bharatiya Janata Party, with Union minister Smriti Irani calling it "shocking and shameful".
The DMK will not regret parting company with the Congress as Karunanidhi knows that in this era of coalitions, it is impossible for the Congress-led government to seek a third term, given its track of record of scams. Even otherwise, the Congress has no base in Tamil Nadu where it has been out of power since 1967, says S Murari
The mortal remains of former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh were consigned to flames at the Nigambodh Ghat in New Delhi on Saturday amid the chanting of religious hymns. The funeral pyre was lit by his eldest daughter Upinder Singh.
Handing a warning to the United Progressive Alliance, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Saturday said the Centre should immediately implement the Sachhar Committee recommendations for the welfare of Muslims, failing which it will have to go out of power.
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