'While they were respectful of the PM, it was clear that as ministers, they owed their positions as much, if not more, to Mrs Gandhi.' 'When attacks were mounted on the PM, there was very little coordinated effort by the Congress, UPA ministers or other politicians to speak up in his favour and strongly defend him.' B K Chaturvedi, Cabinet Secretary during the early years of UPA1, reveals how the Manmohan Singh-Sonia Gandhi equation worked. A riveting excerpt from Chaturvedi's memoir, Challenges Of Governance: An Insider's View
The question is not when but who after Dr Manmohan Singh? Will an alternative to Dr Singh emerge from within the Congress? Or will a government be formed by regional parties supported by the BJP or Congress from outside? Or will India have mid-term elections? Whatever be the combination, Jaya has emerged as a crucial player in the current political context, says M R Venkatesh.
Former telecom minister Arun Shourie agreed with A Raja that the latter had discussed the 2G spectrum issue with Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and then finance minister P Chidambaram before going ahead, but refuted his claim of following the National Democratic Alliance policy.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh unfurled the National Flag on the ramparts of the Red Fort on Sunday to celebrate the 64th Independence Day. After unfurling the tricolour, Dr Singh addressed the nation.
'Never, not even once, has Kamala Harris said that she is Indian American. I know why.' 'From the Indian American community she can get maybe 1% percent votes. But if she says she's African American she gains about 20% votes.'
Sonia Gandhi kept off the media, Rahul Gandhi was basking in his UP foray, while other Congressmen showed little exuberance when they were not sniping at each other. Sheela Bhatt reports on UPA II's dinner to mark two years in office
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arrived in New Delhi on a three-day state visit. He was received by Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahmed and senior ministry officials including Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai.
Dr Baru and Dr Singh struck up a close relationship when the latter was finance minister in 1991; in fact, when Dr Singh resigned from Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao's Cabinet over the stock exchange scam in the 1990s, it was Dr Baru who broke the story.
The Congress and the central government heaved a sigh of relief on Tuesday with the Supreme Court holding that the prime minister was not obliged to sanction any permission to Dr Subramanian Swamy for prosecuting Telecom Minister A Raja, who has since resigned, in the 2G spectrum scam.
Vajpayee and his party colleagues Rajnath Singh, Jaswant Singh, Yashwant Sinha, Arun Shourie and former national security advisor Brajesh Mishra were apprised about the draft agreement on Thursday morning
Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh a day after the Cabinet reshuffle, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani on Thursday said the Congress president enjoys more importance than the PM and everyone now agrees that he is a 'weak PM'.
'We are going to need more technical people in government.' 'You can't expect a generalist to understand the complicated world of financial engineering.' 'I regret to say that most of our politicians have no competence to deal with these things. Nor is there a willingness to learn.'
France on Monday became the first country to sign agreements to set up nuclear reactors in India, two years after Indian's nuclear isolation prompted by Pokhran tests in 1998, ended.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, speaking on the second day of the Congress plenary meet on Monday in New Delhi, said the PM's post should be above suspicion and that he is ready to appear before the Public Accounts Committee in the 2G spectrum scam even though there was no precedent to do so.
Less than a week after they met in Washington, DC, United States President Barack Obama on Tuesday called Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and discussed his administration's Af-Pak policy and climate change with him.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Saturday said that India attaches high priority to its relations with the United States. In his departure statement, Dr Singh said, "Our bilateral agenda covers almost all areas of human endeavour. The United States is our largest trading partner in goods and services, and we have deep economic ties."
Congress General Secretary, Digvijay Singh said on Friday that Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari should learn about parliamentary affairs and institutions before making comments.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Thursday announced that all out efforts would be made to protect the Himalayan glaciers.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Saturday announced an Rs 1,000 crore interim grant for flood victims in Karnataka, calling the floods a "natural calamity".
Congress leaders led by Sonia Gandhi marched from the Congress headquarter in New Delhi to the residence of Manmohan Singh to express solidarity with the former prime minister, who has been summoned as accused by a court in a coal scam case.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has called for speedy implementation of various welfare schemes, which target the weaker sections of society.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Saturday said that a needless controversy had been created over the Pokhran II nuclear tests that took place in May 1998.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh will on Wednesday convene the Cabinet Committee on Security meet to discuss the current crisis prevailing in the Kashmir Valley.
Pakistan has lodged a protest against Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh's remarks that terrorists based on Pakistani soil are planning to carry out Mumbai type attacks again on India.
Governors could also act as watchdogs and alert the state and central governments on security threats, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh said. addressing a two-day governors' conference in New Delhi.
The meeting ended at 2055 hours, after 45 minutes of drama over Banerjee sulking that she was not being consulted when important bills and amendments were being brought before the Cabinet. At this point, one minister said she should not spend so much time in Kolkata, which made her angrier.
Following is the text of the prime minister's address on the occasion of the 2nd Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan.
The Indian side reiterated the invitation to Chinese President Hu Jintao to visit India.
The much-talked about expansion-cum-reshuffle of the Union Council of Ministers could be held this week or after July 8.
On the heels of External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee blaming some 'elements in Pakistan' for the audacious terror attacks on Mumbai, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh received a phone call from Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also met the freedom fighters and greeted them on this occasion. Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu, former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla were among the dignitaries present there.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Murli Manohar Joshi who heads the Public Accounts Committee in Parliament has said that the prime minister's offer to depose before the committee is being considered. Joshi said that the Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai had not been summoned, but was a partt of the committee's proceedings.
Ironically, on the 20th anniversary of the event, the sleaze associated with neoliberalism, with all its cronyism, criminality and plunder of public wealth, is on full display.
India will achieve new heights and gain new respect across the world because of leaders like Dr Manmohan Singh.
US President Barack Obama has had a busy Monday -- from having being ceremonially welcomed at the Rashtrapati Bhawan to meeting leaders from across the spectrum. We recall his day in PHOTOS
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has sent a new year greeting card featuring a dove to Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari. "With all good wishes for the new year," the card, which the Pakistan president's office received a few days ago, said. The card, signed by Dr Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur, could be described as a message for better relations between the two countries following the souring of ties in the wake of the terrorist attack on Mumbai, sources said.
Domestic woes of high trade and fiscal deficits, high inflation, low confidence, lack of will for reforms, were adding to the fall of the rupee.
In response to the Congress criticism that his indefinite hunger was premature, social activist Anna Hazare shot off a five-point letter to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh. In the letter the Gandhian explains why he is continuing the hunger strike that the government has asked him to reconsider.
