The SP is not thinking of opposing the central coalition because Prime Minister Manmohan Singh 'has not given us any personal cause to take a hardline stand', general secretary Amar Singh said.
The Samajwadi Party on Saturday refused an offer by the United Progressive Alliance to join the Cabinet, saying its first priority was to prepare for the coming Lok Sabha elections. The offer was made to the SP in the first meeting of the coordination committee it had formed with the UPA in the wake of the Manmohan Singh government winning the July 22 trust vote its the support.
Even as speculation over the assurances given to the Samajwadi Party and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha for their support to the United Progressive Alliance refuses to die down, senior Congress leader Pranab Mukjerjee on Saturday said that he was not aware any promises made to the parties.He claimed that both the SP and the JMM were part of the UPA from 2004 and their letters of support were not withdrawn. "Can you tell me, when they have left us (UPA)," he asked.
Siddiqui said since he had given an elaborate interview to rediff.com as an SP general secretary, he explains why he shifted allegiance to the Bahujan Samaj Party and what his views on the issues now are.
There seems to be more in common between the predicament that faces Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and the dilemma that has dogged Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh than it would appear at first sight.
A day after Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi backed Manmohan Singh's candidature for prime ministership after the Lok Sabha polls, two United Progressive Alliance allies on Sunday said that they would not be averse to accepting the top job if given a chance."Right now, we have Manmohan Singh as the leader. But in case Sharad Pawar gets a chance or Mulayam Singh gets a chance, they will not oppose each other," Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh said.
Details of what transpired in the meeting between the richest Indian and the prime minister were not immediately available.
The much-anticipated trust vote will be held on July 22, sources said.
Cosying up to the Congress, the Samajwadi Party on Thursday attended a dinner hosted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to mark the United Progressive Alliance's government's four years in office when a lot of bonhomie was exchanged and calls for a consensus on the nuclear deal were made. However, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and SP general secretary Amar Singh, the cynosure of all eyes who walked into the dinner late, did not exchange any greetings.
Amar alleged that Jaipal was trying to "humiliate" Amitabh at the behest of the Congress president.
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.
'They have no incentive to be part of either the NDA or INDIA at this stage, but they may hedge their bets towards the winning coalition in the post-poll setting.'
Jitin Prasada was once considered as among Rahul Gandhi's 'young Turks' and was a minister in successive Manmohan Singh governments but defected from the Congress to the BJP in 2021, where he has again established himself as a prominent Brahmin face of Uttar Pradesh.
Amar Singh said the move would benefit him politically and could create uproar in and outside Parliament.
Without ruling out the possibility of working with the Congress after polls, Akhilesh said he has good relations with the party and would be 'happy' if the next prime minister was from his home state.
'The Modi-Shah duo won't leave the war zone without putting up a tough fight.' 'Modi's slogan for 2019 could well be, "I have done much. Give me one more chance to do even more".' '2019 will be tough for the BJP.' 'But it will be even tougher for the Opposition -- united or otherwise,' says R Rajagopalan.
Telugu Desam Party chief and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu is coordinating the meeting. He has invited the leaders of all the non-BJP parties.
Gandhi, then a newly appointed Congress chief, had staked claim to form the government at the Centre after the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had lost the vote of confidence in the Lok Sabha on April 17, 1999.
Campaigning ended on Wednesday evening for 102 Lok Sabha seats across 21 states and Union territories which will go to polls in the first phase on April 19 with top leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance and the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) making a last-gasp effort to woo voters.
Though there was no official word from both the parties, the sources claimed that two Uttar Pradesh-based political outfits will contest 37 Lok Sabha seats each.
The 60-year-old actor, who earlier dabbled in politics as part of the Samajwadi Party, clarified that he wished Jankar luck but would not be joining any party.
'Young Dalits are looking for better educational opportunities, more job avenues in the private sector, which need not necessarily mean job quotas, but a more welcoming corporate world that offers a liberated social environment, essentially a new India.'
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.
The original suggestion was to call it 'Indian National Democratic Inclusive Alliance', but the word 'democratic' was replaced with 'developmental' after Kumar and Yechury raised some objections saying it sounded too similar to the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), sources said.
The road for the Opposition is full of 'ifs' and 'buts', reports Sunil Gatade.
He also said the governments of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the BSP and the SP that have ruled Uttar Pradesh in the last 32 years, when Congress was not in power, failed to live up to the expectations of the people and the Congress was set for a comeback in the state.
They said the filing of nomination papers will be a big show of strength and the top Congress leadership will be present.
Sibal, a prominent Opposition voice and a former Congress leader, also said that instead of a common minimum programme, the Opposition parties should talk about a 'new vision for India'.
The Telugu Desam Party (TDP), a key partner of the United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA), on Friday dismissed as "speculative" media reports suggesting that Samajwadi Party may come out in support of the Indo-US nuclear deal and bail out the Congress-led UPA government.
The Congress is a dismal third in 17 of the 19 constituencies where the party's general secretary (east) campaigned in Uttar Pradesh.
Throwing his party's weight behind the Congress to ensure an Opposition win in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Wednesday said arguments by some favouring a front without the grand old party should be rejected.
Initiating the debate on the bill from the opposition's side, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi said that any delay in bringing the reservation into effect would be "gross injustice" to Indian women.
Jayalalithaa also said that in her letter to a newspaper on Saturday, she had pointed out that Left parties did not invite her party to take part in a protest rally in Delhi against India's joint naval exercises with other nations, including the US.
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).
There was no immediate response from the Aam Aadmi Party over the matter.
In a letter addressed to the people of Rae Bareli, the Congress leader also thanked the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party, which did not field any candidate against her.
United National Progressive Alliance chairman and Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav on Sunday said that the alliance was against 'further division" of the country to form smaller states.
'Most leaders, from Lalu Yadav and Mamata to M K Stalin, respect and trust Sonia. She should continue unless she expressly declines.'
Ruptures in the opposition unity emerged barely a week after 17 parties joined hands to put up a joint candidate against the ruling National Democratic Alliance nominee for the July 17 presidential election.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances