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.
The decision on whether to remove the LJD from the UPA will be taken by chairperson Sonia Gandhi.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday challenged the Centre to produce evidence against former defence minister George Fernandes against whom the CBI has filed an FIR in connection with Barak missile deal.
Parliament's monsoon session began amid sloganeering and protests from opposition of different issues.
With the government moving a resolution in the Lok Sabha to set up a Joint Parliamentary Committee on the 2G spectrum issue, the battle lines between the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance and the Bharatiya Janata Party have become more tightly drawn with the Congress preparing its ammunition to target the BJP during its National Democratic Alliance government, in a bid to expose the actions of their telecom ministers.
Seventy-seven MLAs were present in the assembly during the voting.
In a virulent attack on BJP, Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Saturday said the Lok Sabha polls are vital to safeguard cherished national ideals like "unity and secularism" which were under threat.
The three major parties will use the next 15 days for housecleaning. But what price must they pay for keeping their allies happy? As things stand today the Congress and the BJP are hard put to summon even a simple majority in the Lok Sabha. When the new House reconvenes in summer could we see a situation where not two but even the three largest parties will be pressed to reach the magic number of 272?
Senior leader of the Bhartiya Janata Party Sushma Swaraj on Saturday alleged that the United Progressive Alliance government was discriminating against the National Democratic Alliance ruled states. She claimed that this discrimination extended to railway projects, distribution of wheat and rice through the public distribution system, relief packages for natural calamities like draught and floods etc.
Many eyebrows were raised in Bihar on Monday as news broke of a meeting between Communist Party of India's rising star Kanhaiya Kumar and Ashok Choudhary, a minister and key aide of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
Dubbing the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance as a "sinking ship", the Congress claimed on Tuesday that the UPA would retain power at the Centre as it enjoys the support of people for its "impressive performance and charismatic leadership".
Mounting an attack on the Centre on behalf of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance at the chief ministers' conclave in New Delhi, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday claimed that certain states have been 'sidetracked' during the United Progressive Alliance's fight against terrorism. Nitish Kumar shared his misgivings about the National Investigation Agency encroaching upon the state's powers.
Today, NRIs are eager to reconnect with India because India is a growth story and it makes good business sense.
Leader of the Opposition Lal Kishenchand Advani makes a strong case for the revival of POTA.
Though the Shiromani Akali Dal had offered to extended support to The NDA but refused to issue a whip and left it on individual members to vote according to their choice during the vote.
They said the very sanctity of the Constitutional process was being destroyed through the 'smear campaign' against her.
China on Monday continued its unprecedented military drills around Taiwan, extending the schedule of war games launched in retaliation to the visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the breakaway island which Beijing claims is part of its territory.
Exuding confidence that United Progressive Alliance would retain power at the Centre, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad claimed on Friday the alliance would benefit hugely from the National Democratic Alliance's old allies like All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Telugu Desam Party snapping ties with it.
A national opinion poll conducted by a television channel has predicted 215 to 235 seats for the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance and 165 to 185 seats for the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance in the Lok Sabha polls. The poll, conducted by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies for CNN-IBN, has predicted that the UPA alliance will have a vote share of 36.6 per cent while the NDA combine will cobble up 29.4 per cent votes.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress on Sunday were set to share the honours in the Lok Sabha and assembly bye-elections in 13 states.
Govt ready to discuss issues of public importance: Azad
'Whether or not Chandrashekhar Azad succeeds or fails electorally, he has already made democratic politics more accountable to Dalits.'
He asserted that the UPA's communist allies would prove to be a 'liability' in achieving any good.
Buoyed by its success in stalling Parliament over the 2G spectrum scam and the recent victory in Bihar, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday said the United Progressive Alliance government is unlikely to complete its full term and maintained that there was a need to expand the National Democratic Alliance to take on the Congress in the next elections.
However, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, hosting a meeting of the leaders of the Third Front in Chennai on Sunday, said the Front would 'choose a nominee' for the presidential election.
Several legislators in states on Monday said they have cross-voted in favour of National Democratic Alliance nominee Droupadi Murmu by not following their respective party lines in the presidential election.
Having kept it alive for four years with outside support, the Left on Tuesday branded the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government as 'no different' from its predecessor National Democratic Alliance government, on the economic and foreign policy fronts.The Marxist leader said Left parties, at their joint meeting in New Delhi on May 23, will further review the performance of the UPA government and take appropriate position.
The PPA, an alliance partner of the North East Democratic Alliance government in the state, on Friday selected Takam Pario as the new chief minister of the state.
The BJP today said if voted to power, it would pursue a "muscular and far-sighted foreign policy" to secure India's interests, which the party alleged had been "substantially compromised" by the United Progressive Alliance government.
Accusing the United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre of dithering in taking strong steps against terrorists, Bharatiya Janata Party president Rajnath Singh on Saturday said the National Democratic Alliance would opt for surgical strikes to demolish their camps inside Pakistan, if it came to power.The NDA would take other countries into confidence on the need for such surgical strikes if it came to power after the Lok Sabha polls, he said.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has broached the issue with senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani and National Democratic Alliance convener George Fernandes.
The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance was the best example of how to run a coalition in the era of parties working on a common minimum programme," he said at the launch of a special-edition magazine named Sankalp brought out by Shyama Prasad Mukheree and Pandit Deendayal Trust in New Delhi on Tuesday.
The poll, conducted across 23 states with a sample size of 18,000 voters, predicts that the UPA will win 267 seats as against the 222 seats it secured in the 2004 elections.
The share of the four Left parties may drop drastically to 38 to 48 seats from their present tally of 59 seats.
Saying the CPI-M has nuked the farmers in Nandigram and the UPA government, LK Advani says the NDA will raise the Nandigram issue in Parliament.
But it may still pip the National Democratic Alliance at the post with the help of some neutral parties like Bahujan Samaj Party and independents
