Years before the Supreme Court struck down as 'unconstitutional' an opaque political funding tool that allowed individuals and companies to donate money to political parties anonymously and without any limits, the then finance minister Arun Jaitley -- the prime mover of electoral bonds -- had termed them legitimate and transparent.
The economic slowdown in India preceded global meltdown due to stoppage of reforms by the UPA government, former union disinvestment minister Arun Shourie said.
Nationalist Congress Party leader Sharad Pawar on Thursday met Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and assured her of support to any candidate that the United Progressive Alliance puts forth. "I told her (Gandhi) that whoever UPA nominates, we will support," Pawar told reporters after his 30-minute meeting with the Congress chief to discuss the issue of Presidential election.
'However, to establish a quid pro quo, one can potentially see several things, like whether they got any benefits from the party that they gave money to. That is something that people (of India) will gauge. But to finally establish that there was money paid as consideration, it would require an investigation, a proper investigation, to be able to come up with such conclusions.'
Hitting out at Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav for favouring a Third Front, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday dared him to first cut off ties with the United Progressive Alliance government, of which his party has been a "part and parcel". BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy claimed that Yadav is "showing a lot of desperation" about a Third Front, though he himself is supporting the "corrupt" UPA government.
"Our parliamentary board will meet within a week to decide on the matter," Soren said, when asked whether the party, which is part of the UPA, would support it in case of a trust vote.
The Left parties on Tuesday lashed out at the UPA government equating it with the previous NDA regime for reducing the EPF interest rate and demanded reconsideration of the decision.
Asserting that his government's decision to ban instant triple talaq has boosted the overall sense of security for Muslim women, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked Bharatiya Janata Party leaders to reach out to them during the upcoming festival of Raksha Bandhan.
The meteoric rise of Shajahan Sheikh from a modest background of a helper in a local transport company to becoming the so-called 'tiger' of Sandeshkhali is what Bollywood film scripts are made of. And so does his fall.
Mamata Banerjee's fate in the United Progressive Alliance hangs in the balance with the Trinamool Congress leader continuing to give a loud and clear message that her party is not going to vote for Pranab Mukherjee as the UPA's Presidential candidate.
Stepping up his attack on the ruling United Progressive Alliance coalition, Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani said the "corrupt" government has brought "disgrace" to democracy.
Criticising the crisis-ridden UPA government, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and senior BJP leader LK Advani has said that the Congress-led dispensation was "in a state of paralysis".
The United Progressive Alliance's (UPA) growth story is far from truth and is mere a statistical jugglery.
Politically, the striking outcome of the first year of the UPA government is its increasing vulnerability, says Communist Party of India Marxist's General Secretary Prakash Karat
DMK deputy general secretary and Lok Sabha MP A Raja has likened Sanatan Dharma to disease like leprosy that had social stigma.
Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar on Wednesday termed the United Progressive Alliance's publication of its performance, 'The Report to the People,' as a "report card of failure."
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangha leader Indresh Kumar on Monday accused the Congress-led UPA government of pursuing communal agenda and using government agencies like the National Investigating Agency to malign nationalist forces.
"The Congress-led UPA government is committed towards one objective -- to destroy each and every Constitutional authority in the country for its own narrow political gain," BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar told reporters in New Delhi.
The DMK will not stop till Tamil Nadu got exemption from the central qualifying test, Stalin said.
In its manifesto for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had criticised the Congress-led UPA regime for "policy and decision paralysis".
By speaking out against Manmohan Singh, by constantly bashing the UPA/Congress, Modi by 2014 will be like a television show in replay mode. In winning the intra-BJP battle, he runs losing the war with the UPA, feels Amberish K Diwanji.
While some companies used that to become world leaders, others squandered it by over-borrowing.
It is in power on its own only in three states -- Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh and Telangana -- with a big question mark on whether it can even stake claim to be head of the INDIA bloc.
Seeking to scotch speculation over the Trinamool Congress snapping ties with the UPA, Mamata Banerjee on Monday made it clear that her party was not withdrawing support to the Manmohan Singh government and claimed there was no distrust between them.
'Congress leaders who are making strategy for the Congress to win elections have not even won a class monitor elections.' 'When you have not contested school monitor elections, what will you know about the ground reality?'
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Monday said UPA-II's report card presented by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has nothing to do with ground realities and the first year of the alliance's second stint in office has been disappointing for the people of the state.
The PM blamed the UPA regime for the problems in the banking sector.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi gave a couple of names to BSP supremo and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati for her consideration for the post of Vice President.
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.
At present, a 14.2-kg LPG cylinder in the national capital costs Rs 1,103. It will cost Rs 903 when the Centre's decision is implemented from Wednesday.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday accused the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government of encouraging Hurriyat Conference leaders to hobnob with anti-India elements abroad by allowing them to visit Pakistan. BJP was referring to the purported meetings held in Pakistan by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq-led Hurriyat delegation with Lashkar-e-Tayiba chief Hafiz Saeed, Hizbul chief Sayed Salah-ud-Din and senior functionaries of the Inter Services Intelligence.
The poll-wary UPA allies are understood to have suggested a government-Left patch up by which the government will not go ahead on the nuclear deal after completing the pending business on the India-specific safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
In an apparent attack on the UPA government, Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav on Wednesday alleged that no other country in the world had seen the kind of deteriorating situation as India did in the last 10 years, saying people were now looking for an alternative.
The BJP is now inventing new angles to keep its campaign relevant -- even if it's old wine in an old bottle, which is what the allegation on 'Katchatheevu' is, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday termed the railway budget as "anti-development" and said that it reflects the "non-performance of the UPA government".
Economists Maitreesh Ghatak, Parikshit Ghosh and Ashok Kotwal challenge the prevailing view that the diminished electoral prospects of the United Progressive Alliance government is the result of neglecting growth to launch populist welfare schemes. They look at a wide range of economic indicators to argue that compared to the National Democratic Alliance regime, the UPA period has been characterised by faster growth, higher savings and investment, growing foreign trade and capital inflows, and increased infrastructure spending in partnership with private capital.
Two full-fledged semiconductor fabrication plants are going to come up in India very soon entailing multi-billion dollar investment besides several chip assembly and packaging units, Minister of Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said. In an interview with PTI, the minister confirmed that the two projects include a $8 billion proposal submitted by Israel-based Tower Semiconductors and the other from Tata Group. "I am happy to share this with you and you are probably the first one I'm sharing this with.
Asserting that inclusive growth will remain as central plank of the United Progressive Alliance, Congress President Sonia Gandhi said it was in tune with this concept that the government had launched a series of welfare programmes and legislative initiatives, especially for the weaker sections.
Agricultural Minister and Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Wednesday said Trinamool Congress, which has withdrawn support from UPA government over FDI in retail issue, had every right to take its own decision and work for it and so has the UPA government to persist with its policy.
Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday lashed out at opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) parties over Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader Udhayanidhi Stalin's remarks against 'Sanatan Dharma', accusing them of insulting 'Sanatan Dharma' for votebank and appeasement politics.
