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
0After committing support to the United Progressive Alliance, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Saturday ruled out his involvement in formation of third front before the next Lok Sabha polls even though he had an intriguing meeting with Sukhbir Badal, President of national Democractic Alliance's key constituent Akali Dal.
The United Progressive Alliance on Monday announced the constitution of a coordination committee under the chairpersonship of Sonia Gandhi to ensure cohesive functioning of the alliance, a demand that was placed by ally NCP during its recent stand-off with Congress.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan talks to rediff.com's Anita Katyal about the current political situation, Narendra Modi's projection by the Bharatiya Janata Party and the future plans of the Congress and the UPA
With India under pressure from Dravidian parties in Tamil Nadu to support a United States-sponsored resolution in the United Nations Human Rights Commission against Sri Lanka for alleged war crimes, United Progressive Alliance's key constituent Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam on Saturday announced the convening of its high-level committee on March 20 to discuss the issue. Party chief M Karunanidhi will chair the meeting on Tuesday morning at its headquarters in Chennai.
Collusion between ruling parties, corporate donations under Companies Bill is hidden. Environmental concerns made subservient to Cabinet Committee on Investment and regulatory agencies made toothless. Promotion of hazardous technologies for generating power from waste is anti-public health, say activist Gopal Krishna.
Launching his campaign for the Presidential election in which he appears set for a cakewalk, United Progressive Alliance nominee Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday appealed to all political parties to back his candidature, apparently eyeing Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress. Mukherjee met UPA's key partner Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's president M Karunanidhi at his residence in Chennai, formally kick-starting the campaign.
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Bannerjee, who had not initially supported Pranab Mukherjee for the post of President, was on Wednesday hosted a dinner at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Welcoming the government's decision to back the United States sponsored resolution against Sri Lanka at United Nations Human Rights Council, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi on Monday said his party had even decided to pull out its ministers from the United Progressive Alliance and extend issue based support to it in the event of its demand not being met.
In further signs of fissures within DMK, party chief M Karunanidhi's son M K Alagiri on Monday skipped the crucial executive committee meet, which is likely to take key decisions in the wake of the party's pullout from the United Progressive Alliance.
Finance Ministers play a key role in shaping the economy of a country.
In a big organisational rejig, the BJP named Union minister G Kishan Reddy, Sunil Jakhar and Babulal Marandi as party presidents in Telangana, Punjab and Jharkhand respectively.
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 United Progressive Alliance government on Monday had a smooth sailing in Lok Sabha with key ally Trinamool Congress and the Bahujan Samaj Party walking out and the Samajwadi Party withdrawing its amendments to the President's address, notwithstanding the hype surrounding their opposition on issues like the National Counterterrorism Center.
Yadav also attacked his own party president, George Fernandes, while praising the ruling United Progressive Alliance government at the centre for controlling "elements like Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Praveen Togadia".
With the United Progressive Alliance starting to get its act togther ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar had a meeting with Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday over seat-sharing in Maharashtra and some other states.
Those joining Prime Minister Narendra Modi's council of ministers for the first time include three former chief ministers -- Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh), Manohar Lal Khattar (Haryana) and H D Kumaraswamy (Karnataka).
"The Congress is on cloud nine after a little success of the United Progressive Alliance government. It was achieved not on its own but with the help of its alliance partners. As a result, they are trying to create a leadership like Indira Gandhi with all the powers centred around one person," said an editorial in Marathi 'Congresscha Nakli Atmavishwas aani Agami Nivadnuka' (The fake confidence of Congress and the forthcoming elections) in NCP's mouthpiece Rashtrawadi.
In a veiled reference to various populist schemes of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, Arun Jaitley, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, "When crores are spent not on asset creation but on populist schemes, it disturbs the economy of the country."
In a veiled reference to various populist schemes of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, Arun Jaitley, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, "When crores are spent not on asset creation but on populist schemes, it disturbs the economy of the country."
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had been "defanged" by the Congress party in his second term with Sonia Gandhi deciding on key appointments to the Cabinet and to the PMO as he seemed to "surrender" to her and to the United Progressive Alliance constituents.
Cautioning the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government against making any 'hasty' announcements in the name of reforms, key ally Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam on Friday said decisions should be based on "consultations". "My opinion is that hasty decisions and announcements in the name of economic reforms should be avoided. They should be taken after deep consultations and keeping in mind the future prospects of the country," DMK president M Karunanidhi said.
Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam, a key ally of the ruling United Progressive Alliance, on Tuesday announced its participation in the nation-wide bandh on September 20 called by several non-UPA parties to protest the Centre's decision to hike diesel price, allow FDI in multi-brand retail and limit subsidised cooking gas.
Criticising the United Progressive Alliance government for continuing to allow training of Sri Lankan defence personnel in the country despite opposition to it in Tamil Nadu, Dravida Munnetra Kazha, a key ally of the ruling front, on Monday said India should immediately stop such exercises.
UPA failed to undertake economic, social and administrative reforms to strengthen India's long-term development potential.
Under attack from all political parties, including ruling United Progressive Alliance key ally Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the Centre on Friday decided to "send off" the Sri Lankan airmen from the Indian Air Force station at Tambaram where they were undergoing training.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee arrived in Delhi on Tuesday night for consultations with United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday on the issue of the Presidential poll nominee of the UPA, amid intense speculation on Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's candidature for the post.
The Congress on Saturday maintained silence over Union Minister Beni Prasad Verma's renewed attack on outside ally Samajwadi Party, which is hopeful that he will be removed during a minor Cabinet reshuffle being talked about soon.
The United Progressive Alliance government and the Opposition seem to be heading for yet another showdown on the subject of key appointments -- this time over National Investigation Agency director S C Sinha being named as a member of the National Human Rights Commission
Chief ministers of non-Congress states on Monday accused the Centre of not consulting states on key security issues wherein the state's powers are "abrogated" while United Progressive Alliance ally Trinamool Congress opposed National Centre for Counter Terrorism as it "upsets" the federal structure.
In 1999, Sharad Pawar, along with P A Sangma and Tariq Anwar were expelled from Congress. The same year, Pawar founded the NCP.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president M Karunanidhi on Wednesday sought the Centre's intervention in making Tamil a language of the court in Madras high court.
These are valuable suggestions and one hopes the Budget will make a start on that.
With members of his team facing several controversies, Anna Hazare on Monday said he plans to restructure his core committee to also give representation to religious minorities, tribals, Dalits and youths to strengthen the campaign against corruption. Hazare also hit out at the United Progressive Alliance government for targeting key members of his team, alleging that those who are threatened by the Lokpal movement are attacking his supporters.
With Trinamool Congress walking out of the United Progressive Alliance, a reshuffle-cum-expansion of the Union Council of Ministers is likely to be effected this week.
Renewing her demand that Sri Lankan airmen should not be trained anywhere in India, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Friday lambasted her arch rival and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam President M Karunanidhi for not "exerting pressure" on the Centre on the issue despite being a key ally of the United Progressive Alliance.
With the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam pulling out of the United Progressive Alliance, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday said the party is ready for the general elections as the continuation of the central government is not in the interest of the country.
Mounting pressure on the Centre on its demand to punish 'war criminals' in Sri Lanka, United Progressive Alliance key ally Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam has threatened to pull out its ministers from the Union Cabinet if its demand to bring in amendments to the US-backed resolution at UNHRC in Geneva was not conceded.
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has no qualms in mixing economics with politics, which is evident from her reaction to the railway budget, says Renu Mittal.
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