The United Progressive Alliance II faced "red lines" that are not obvious unlike UPA-I but the government learnt to adjust and get the allies on board, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram said on Wednesday.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday sought to paint a dismal picture of United Progressive Alliance-II holding it responsible for the economic gloom and failure to give the country leadership while accusing it of diminishing the role of the prime minister.
Troubleshooter for the Congress and the government not long ago, Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday refrained from making any comments on UPA-II at a time when it is accused of non-performance.
As the United Progressive Alliance-II government completed two years in office, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday dubbed it the "most dishonest" government in the history of independent India and charged it with failing on fundamental issues of corruption and price rise.
Sources in the Congress have begun to brief business houses and mediapersons with 'adequate numbers' to prove that the United Progressive Alliance government is in majority, despite Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress pulling out its 19 members of Parliament from the government.
Will this be a 'political' Budget? Or, will the Budget be able to take the country back to growth path?
Sheela Bhatt, who attended the dinner to celebrate UPA-II's fourth anniversary, sensed a deep unease in the ruling echelons.
Common people's views about the economic policies of the United Progressive Alliance government.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday alleged that the UPA-II government's performance at the end of its fourth anniversary has waned so much, that it "mirrored the rule" of last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar.
From the economy to foreign policy issues, to addressing the serious challenge posed by communal forces which are out to viciously polarise and divide Indian society, the UPA II government has shown a certain pronounced weakness and lack of vision and commitment that could seriously harm India in the long run, notes Sanjay Kapoor.
The Indian Defence Ministry has approved the procurement of 114 Rafale fighter jets from France, a significant step towards bolstering the Indian Air Force's combat capabilities. The decision comes ahead of French President Emmanuel Macron's visit to India.
'If the Singh government was characterised by policy paralysis, this one is afflicted by hyperactivism, sans a roadmap,' says Yogendra Yadav.
The United Progressive Alliance government will suffer a set back if ally Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam doest not contain the infighting between T R Baalu, leader of DMK parliamentary party, and Union Minister S S Palanimanickam, DMK's five time MP from Thanjavur constituency, over the new railway line in Thanjavur.
The Congress seems to be ruing what it does not have in UPA II: The support of the left parties, not particularly because they let the government govern till they withdrew support over the issue of signing a nuclear treaty with the US, but because they didn't demand their pound of flesh in the allocation of ministries by not joining the government.
The 10-year tenure of UPA-II will formally come to an end on Saturday after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh calls on President Pranab Mukherjee and submits resignation of his government.
Dravida Munettra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi on Tuesday refused to rate the three year performance of the United Progressive Alliance-II government, saying there are "ups and downs" for every government.
UPA-II has yielded a 7.5 per cent average annual growth rate
Mamata Bannerjee, a key United Progressive Alliance constituent, has put the cat amongst the pigeons by demanding that the UPA set up a co-ordination committee to discuss important issues and decisions before they are made and implemented. She said the recent petrol price hike was undertaken without her consent.
The methods being used by the government to window-dress the fiscal deficit will fool no one, least of all foreign investors or bodies like the IMF, warns Sonali Ranade
The minister said he was able to build consensus on VAT when he was the Finance Minister during the UPA-I term.
As indicated by Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, the UPA government has already initiated process to make higher allocation in social sector.
The Bharatiya Janata Party said the first anniversary of the United Progressive Alliance-II was marked by "disappointment and betrayal of common man" and that price rise, corruption and surge in Naxal violence were the "achievements" of the government which could complete one year by "misusing" the Central Bureau of Investigation.
Pledging to take corruption head on, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance on Sunday night promised to punish the guilty in scams and assured the people that it would demonstrate through actions and not words what it meant.
'The Election Commission's involvement in the avoidable SIR controversy has carried a message down to the last voter -- who just does not like it,' observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The biggest challenge before Chidambaram, who will be presenting his eighth budget, would be to keep every constituent happy, arrest decelerating economic growth and bring down fiscal deficit to committed level of 4.8 per cent of the gross domestic product.
A K Bhattacharya on the deliberations in the government that have moved beyond fiscal policy to infrastructure, land rights for tribals, and so on.
How many marks will Prime Minister Manmohan Singh give to the performance of the United Progressive Alliance's second term? This is the question being asked in political circles ahead of Dr Singh's first press conference in Delhi on Monday since taking over as PM for the second time. When the UPA-I had completed one year in May 2005, Dr Singh gave six out of ten marks to its performance, but said he was not satisfied with it.
In light of the recent announcement of the government to introduce Foreign Direct Investment in retail sector, the United Progressive Alliance government is facing a backlash from its allies.
Renu Mittal takes a hard look the two years of the United Progressive Alliance government.
The Congress' 206 parliamentary seats in last year's election had unleashed a wave of optimism but that feel-good mood is now a thing of the past, writes Harsh V Pant.
The United Progressive Alliance will celebrate the first anniversary of its second consecutive term in office on Saturday after a sweet and sour year marked by misses and hits in governance and its deft management of uncertainties of coalition politics.
'It is best for Sonia to retreat to the background and let Rahul gradually come to the fore to stand by Manmohan Singh.'
The UPA's old schemes are unravelling while the new ones are still to take off, says Sunita Moga
Blame the government's huge tax demand, while domestic investors point to their falling corporate governance standards.
Months before he demitted office as prime minister in 2014, Manmohan Singh had famously asserted that his leadership was not weak and history would be kinder to him than what the media projected at that time.
Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, who was the cynosure of all eyes at the United Progressive Alliance anniversary function last year, was conspicuous by his absence Wednesday night.
Veteran Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar, in his latest book, argues that Pranab Mukherjee should have been made Prime Minister in 2012 instead of Manmohan Singh, who was then recovering from health issues. Aiyar believes this would have prevented the "paralysis of governance" and "doomed" any prospects the Congress might have had to form UPA-III. He also criticizes the government's handling of the Anna Hazare-led agitation and the Commonwealth Games scandal, which he believes contributed to the party's downfall in the 2014 general elections.
Noted jurist and Bharatiya Janata Party member of parliament Ram Jethmalani on Friday slammed the ruling United Progressive Alliance government as "shameless" for remaining in office even after the Supreme Court's criticism of it for the "laggardly pace" of probe into the issue of black money stashed abroad in tax havens.
Four of the most important ministries in the United Progressive Alliance government remained untouched in the major Cabinet reshuffle on Tuesday. Let's take a look at these ministries:
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
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances