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.
As the battle lines are drawn between the United Progressive Alliance and the National Democratic Alliance, the NDA is now beginning to smell power, says Neerja Chowdhury
With the Lokpal Bill slated to come up in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, a near unanimity emerged at an all-party meeting in New Delhi on Monday, but United Progressive Alliance's outside supporter Samajwadi Party remained a stumbling block continuing its opposition to the anti-corruption measure.
The announcement on the name of Singh, 74, is expected to be made on Monday, when all the partners of the alliance, led by the Bharatiya Janata Party, are expected to meet. Senior BJP leaders are of the opinion that the UPA nominee should not be allowed to win uncontested and all Opposition parties should put up a candidate against the ruling Congress-led front.
The Shiv Sena on Sunday announced that it will support the National Democratic Alliance nominee for the post of Vice President of India.
National Democratic Alliance on Saturday lambasted the United progressive Alliance government for its decision to hike diesel prices every month and said a meeting of alliance partners would be convened to chalk out a strategy to be adopted during the upcoming Budget Session of Parliament on price rise.
Strong reservations from key ally Janata Dal-United over pitting a candidate against United Progressive Alliance nominee Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday forced the National Democratic Alliance to defer its decision on the Presidential election.
After a meeting at BJP leader LK Advani's residence, from which the BJP's oldest ideological ally the Shiv Sena kept away, NDA convenor Sharad Yadav merely said more discussions were needed to arrive at a right decision
Against the backdrop of dramatic twists and turns in the Presidential race, key National Democratic Alliance ally Janata Dal-United on Thursday refrained from making its stand clear on the issue saying the United Progressive Alliance should first settle it within itself.
The BJP's Bihar unit responded to the tweet saying, "The first picture is your future and the second is of India. Understood?"
Accusing the United Progressive Alliance government of adopting anti-farmer policies, members from the National Democratic Alliance and the Left parties on Monday staged a walk out in the Lok Sabha.
Union Agriculture Minister and key United Progressive Alliance leader Sharad Pawar on Sunday favoured a non-political candidate as the next President in view of the fact that UPA and National Democratic Alliance did not have the strength to elect their own nominee.
The Central Bureau of Investigation got into an overdrive to complete the 2G scam investigations by February after the Prime Minister's office (PMO) wanted to shrug off the impression that the government is mired in corruption.
Nitish Kumar's stunning victory in Bihar is a political earthquake that will reverberate in Indian politics till the 2014 Lok Sabha election.
Former foreign minister in the Atal Bihari government Jaswant Singh said that if voted to power the National Democratic Alliance would continue the process of holding dialogue with Pakistan on the Kashmir issue and simuatenously engage the All Party Hurriyat Conference as was done during Vajpayee's tenure as prime minister.
Janata Dal-United on Thursday made it clear that it has no plans to support the united Progressive Alliance if the Centre grants special status to Bihar, saying there is no question of any 'bargain' in the matter.
A decision to this effect was taken by BJP president Rajnath Singh soon after the Left parties announced their withdrawal of support to the four-year-old government.
A former chief minister of Punjab, Barnala has the ability to carry other parties with him, including Akali Dal from the National Democratic Alliance.
'Who sent Masood Azhar back to Pakistan? Who bowed down to terror and released him? Not the Congress, but it was the BJP government'
"I will be able to open my cards (on the presidential polls) only after consultations with party MPs, MLAs and other leaders," she said addressing her first press conference in Delhi after taking over the reins of UP for the fourth time.
In escalation of confrontation, the National Democratic Alliance on Monday decided to target Home Minister P Chidambaram by boycotting him and not allowing him to speak in Parliament, holding him also responsible for the 2G scam.
With the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha withdrawing support to the 23-month-old United Progressive Alliance government in Jharkhand and Chief Minister Madhu Koda still expressing confidence for a solution, all eyes are on Governor Syed Sibtey Razi as different political parties are meeting him and placing their views.
Three MPs, including former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, came on wheelchairs.
Declaring that the United Progressive Alliance government had lost the moral authority to continue, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Yashwant Singh said the only way the opposition could compel the government to quit was for the National Democratic Alliance MPs to resign en masse.
"A true nationalist must have a "sense of shame" for the crimes his government commits and accept that his country is not perfect," said the eminent historian.
If Saudi Arabia, with just two Muslim holy sites of Mecca and Medina, can create a huge tourism-based ecosystem beyond oil, Ayodhya is sure to become the world's hottest religious tourism site in less than a decade, predicts R Jagannathan.
Indian National Lol Dal leader Om Prakash Chautala will host the meeting.
Former Jharkhand Chief Minister and Member of Parliament Babulal Marandi has extended support to the Third Front.In a letter to Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu, the prominent Jharkhand leader said he supported the Front, which was a non-United Progressive Alliance and non-National Democratic Alliance option. He said that he could not attend the Front's meeting in New Delhi due to prior poll-related commitments.
With the Bharatiya Janata Party losing Biju Janata Dal as an ally in Orissa, the Congress on Monday gloated over the plight of its principal challenger alleging National Democratic Alliance was "virtually non-existent" and there was "no serious challenge" to the United Progressive Alliance in the Lok Sabha polls.
The three ills of 'dynasticism, corruption and appeasement' politics must quit India in the best interest of the country, the Bharatiya Janata Party said on Wednesday as it commemorated the Quit India movement launched by Mahatma Gandhi on this day in 1942.
BJP President and Leader of Opposition L K Advani on Tuesday conceded that the National Democratic Alliance's boycott of the Budget session of Parliament had created a 'wrong perception' in the public.
Kalam likely to refuse the front's offer; BJP hopes this may swing some front votes its way.
The BJP at 43 is a work in progress, with total ideological continuity and much substantive change in political method and style, observes Shekhar Gupta.
Meeting for the first time after the spectacular win in Narendra Modi-led Gujarat and after wresting Himachal Pradesh away from the Congress, Singh praised the success of the party's ideological commitment and its ability in the field of development. "I fully believe the string of successes would further lead us to victory in the Lok Sabha elections," he said.
Nearly two years after the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into two UTs and revocation of its special status, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday held talks with top political leaders from the erstwhile state, and said the Centre's priority is to strengthen grassroots democracy there for which delimitation has to happen quickly so that polls can be held.
Oppn members raised slogans demanding a joint parliamentary committee probe into the issue.
Massive security arrangements have been thrown around the Ashok Hotel as many would be attending the dinner party thrown by the UPA president Sonia Gandhi. A waterproof shamiana has been installed at Vajpayee's place on 6 A Krishna Menon Marg.
"The two sides note that the relationship between Russia and China has progressed to a more advanced interstate cooperation compared to the military-political unions of the Cold War era as it is not bloc or confrontational in nature, nor does it target any third countries," Russia's new agency Tass quoted the document as saying.
The opposition is likely to put up a joint candidate for the July 18 presidential election despite not having numbers on its side, and consultations in this regard have already begun.
