'I am shocked that the BJP makes so many commitments. What did they deliver as the NDA?'
The CAG observed there was no change in the price of 'flyaway aircraft package'.
The resignation also signals a continuing saga of unaddressed concerns of young leaders, once considered close to former Congress president Rahul Gandhi.
The Rashtriya Lok Dal, with five members in the Lok Sabha, on Monday formally joined the United Progressive Alliance amid speculations that its chief Ajit Singh would be included in the Cabinet as the civil aviation minister. With the RLD joining the ruling coalition, its strength has gone up from 272 to 277 MPs. In the backdrop of speculations that Ajit Singh will be inducted into the Cabinet, Digvijay Singh was asked who will be the next civil aviation minister.
Official said a CBI inquiry has been recommended against Aman Biradari for violation of various provisions of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act.
Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati has withdrawn her party's support to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre. Mayawati has accused the UPA of neglecting Uttar Pradesh and meting out step-motherly treatment to her party and the UP government.
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.
Merely because an educational institution is regulated by a statute does not take away from it the character of a minority institution, the Supreme Court observed on Tuesday as it commenced hearing the vexed question of minority status of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).
Unlike 2004 when Sonia Gandhi took things into her hands and hit the road and stitched up alliances, there is a lack of grip this time, as if things are on auto pilot. Cabinet meetings get over in minutes. People are glibly talking of a third front government in 2009 supported by the Congress.
Ruling out any differences between the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party, Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Wednesday said Sharad Pawar is the biggest "supporter and well-wisher" of the United Progressive Alliance government. "There are no differences with Sharad Pawar. He is the biggest supporter and well-wisher of the UPA," Azad told reporters.
Senior Trinamool Congress leaders on Tuesday said that quitting the United Progressive Alliance government had brought them a sense of freedom and relief.
Similarities between NDA and UPA on some key policy issues are now becoming too stark to be ignored, says A K Bhattacharya.
The UPA-II may not talk about this, but it continues to implement its programme to revive ailing PSUs by investing fresh capital.
Accusing the United Progressive Alliance of being in power at the Centre only by 'manipulating smaller parties', the Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday said, the Manmohan Singh's government has completely exhausted its mandate to rule the nation.
The NDA govt will carry forward "good" policies and rail projects of UPA.
Pawar said the UPA-Left committee constituted to iron out the differences had already held four rounds of "good discussions and we hope both sides would amicably and with full responsibility settle the issue in our future meetings".
The CPI-M on Tuesday warned the UPA government at the Centre would "face the consequences" if it went ahead with the Indo-US nuclear deal. CPI-M politburo member Sitaram Yechuri said the outcome of the discussion between India and IAEA regarding the nuclear deal would be conveyed to Left parties by the government on March 17 at the Left-UPA Coordination Committee meeting.
Grappling with the intractable issue of Aligarh Muslim University's minority status, the Supreme Court said on Thursday the 1981 amendment to the AMU Act, which effectively accorded it a minority status, only did a "half-hearted job" and not restore to the institution the position it had prior to 1951.
Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde on Tuesday tore into the Uddhav Thackeray faction for 'abandoning' Hindutva and Bal Thackeray's ideology and even recited the Hanuman Chalisa in Lok Sabha as his party opposed the no-confidence motion against the Modi government.
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.
Both Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party might be thoroughly opposed to the United Progressive Alliance government's recent decision to allow FDI in retail as well as the hike in diesel price, but neither of these parties are likely to immediately part ways with the UPA.
The Nationalist Congress Party has decided to pull out of the UPA government and support it from outside in protest against the way the party was treated by Congress, creating fresh trouble for the ruling coalition.
In the backdrop of the hype over Mulayam Singh Yadav attending UPA's anniversary dinner, his Samajwadi Party sought to downplay it and went on to attack the Centre over 2G and other scams.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate the economic achievements of the government?
Incumbent Hamid Ansari is the United Progressive Alliance's candidate for the Vice President's post and he is all set to get a second consecutive term.
The Karnataka high court on Tuesday struck down the appointment of Justice Chandrashekaraiah, the Upa Lokayukta. Justice N Kumar and Justice Kempanna observed that due process was not followed while appointing the Upa Lokayukta.
'Modigate is snowballing into a huge thing with the electorate. The BJP is in for huge punishment by the electorate.'
What is most troubling is that not a single party that is part of INDIA has talked about any kind of reform and economic sense, argues R Jagannathan.
Former union minister for child and women development and senior Congress Party leader Krishna Tirath on Monday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party after meeting party chief Amit Shah.
"The BSP has no intention to join the UPA nor there will be any such intention in future," she said in a press release in Lucknow.
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has agreed to attend the second meeting of the UPA co-ordination committee to be held on August 22, sources said.
Neither the BJP, nor the Congress before it, made any manifesto commitments on defence spending, even though allocations have plummeted from 4 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in the late 1980s to less than 2 per cent today, points out Ajai Shukla.
It's the floundering economy that caused the Congress' grievous loss in the Assembly elections.
'It is the first-time voters and the agnostics who are often influenced by political advertising.' 'These swing voters tend to make a huge difference in the outcome of any election.'
The Centre, last year, had also decided to freeze the minimum wage paid under NREGA at Rs 100. Subsequently, the wages paid in many states under NREGA are lower than the minimum wages in the state.
UPA to take decision on MDMK status in the central coalition
Although the credit for acquiring the technological skill must be given to India's outstanding nuclear scientists, the decision to go nuclear was a political one that entailed clarity of vision, courage and resolve, points out Rup Narayan Das.
In an apparent attempt to act as a pressure group within the United Progressive Alliance, two constituents -- Rashtriya Janata Dal and Telangana Rashtra Samithi -- Thursday announced the formation of an informal group within to "review" UPA
An institution of national importance must reflect the "national structure", the Centre told the Supreme Court on Tuesday while pointing out that around 70 to 80 per cent students studying at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) are Muslims even without reservation.
