'The government must give up its neo-liberal polices and obsession with GDP growth and shift its ideological centre of gravity leftwards.'
Describing China as the biggest threat to the country, Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav slammed the United Progressive Alliance for being a "silent spectator" to alleged Chinese encroachment of Indian territory.
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.
With Tamil Nadu reeling under acute power shortage, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Friday squarely blamed the Congress-led UPA and her arch rival Dravida Munettra Kazhagam for the crisis but said load-shedding would gradually ease from next month and the state will be free of power cuts from end 2013.
Notwithstanding the bitter ties between Left parties and the Congress, the RJD today claimed that the CPI(M) would be "compelled" to join ranks with UPA to keep communal forces at bay.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday sought public views on the 'charge sheet' it intends to prepare in seeking to corner the UPA government over its "failure" on several fronts and to highlight the scams unearthed during the present regime.
Almost without exception, all ministers from non-Congress coalition partners of the UPA have been behaving as though they are a law unto themselves.
Sitharaman said the weapon systems, avionics and other key add-ons to the Rafale aircraft, will be 'much superior' than that negotiated by the UPA.
Sticking to its demand for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's resignation for the irregularities in coal block allocation, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday termed the United Progressive Alliance government as the "most corrupt" and demanded cancellation of 142 allocated coal blocks. "There is no doubt that this UPA government is the most corrupt government of all times. Earlier, the Bofors scam was considered the biggest, in which Rs 64 crore was taken as bribe," he said.
While two Team Anna members targetted United Progressive Alliance Presidential nominee Pranab Mukherjee and demanding a probe into allegations against him, anti-graft crusader Anna Hazare on Monday appeared to endorse his candidature for the top post terming him as "better than other UPA ministers".
Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Monday said the high growth that Indian economy has logged in the first quarter of the current fiscal was on account of the UPA policies and the new government must give it the due credit.
His statement came hours after five of his party ministers in Andhra Pradesh resigned from the Congress-led government.
Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati on Wednesday kept up the suspense on continuance of outside support to the United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre, saying a decision on the issue will be taken soon. She also asked party cadres to be ready for snap polls which "can take place any time" in view of the "instability" at the Centre.
Despite the missive on the impact of foreign retail on the small kirana shops in the country written by Congress President Sonia Gandhi to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, everyone in the government knows that it was never to be taken seriously.
As Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh threatened withdrawal of support to the UPA government over the Jamia Nagar encounter, party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav on Tuesday said the support was extended in the national interest and there was no question of its withdrawal.
As Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav offered a prop to beleaguered UPA after Trinamool Congress walked out of the ruling coalition, Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday said it has no intention of toppling the government and will "wait and watch".
Appreciating the central government for conferring Bharat Ratna to Charan Singh, he said that this decision proves that Modi understands the sentiment and character of the nation.
After attracting criticism on the social media for "taking credit", Khurshid on Sunday said that he had only "stated the truth".
In his absence, the party stares at uncertainty as many of its other senior leaders are either in jail or in political obscurity.
The Left parties' unhappiness over the functioning of the United Progressive Alliance government and especially its economic policies came to the fore on Monday with the Revolutionary Socialist Party deciding to withdraw from the UPA-Left coordination committee.
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.
Alleging that the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government's mindset has led to "decay" of key institutions including Parliament, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday said it poses a serious issue before the next Lok Sabha as it is threatening the survival of democracy in the country.
At the end of UPA-2's three years in power, India has become a more unbalanced, strife-torn and unhappy society, with reduced human security and tattered social cohesion. Rather than correct policy course, the government deals with the resulting discontent with brute force, says Praful Bidwai
Lok Janshakti Party chief Ramvilas Paswan on Sunday said his party would support United Progressive Alliance candidate for Presidency.
As United Progressive Alliance completes three years in office, opposition Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday claimed the government may fall anytime as coalition partners were unhappy and were not even ready to break bread together.
The Samajwadi Party is ready for mid-term Lok Sabha polls but it is supporting the United Progressive Alliance government to keep communal forces at bay, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said on Sunday.
Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday took potshots at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, alleging his "lack" of leadership had made the United Progressive Alliance government a "sinking ship" and prompted even allies like Trinamool Congress to declare that he should be moved to the President's post.
Figures don't lie. And they say the UPA's 10 years of economic growth is slightly better than the previous 10 years of growth. End of debate.
Bharti accused the media of distorting her statement, attributing it to the BJP's agenda.
As Congress-led UPA-II completes three years in office, party leaders on Wednesday said India has performed much better in comparison to other countries during these years but the growth has not been up to the expectations of the government.
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.
Denouncing the United Progressive Alliance government as a "failure" on all fronts, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday came out with a scathing "chargesheet" on its 10-year rule that accused Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi of being equally guilty of all ills by exercising authority without responsibility.
Reminding the UPA-II government about the need to reverse the negative perception of a 'decision-making paralysis', industry body Assocham has made a pitch for second-generation reforms in various sectors, including finance, banking, taxation and agriculture.
Tearing into the claims of the United Progressive Alliance about its flagship employment generation programme MNREGA, BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Tuesday alleged it had only "filled the pockets of Congress" and sought to debunk the much-touted RTI.
All political parties put together received more than Rs 12,000 crore till last fiscal since the introduction of the now-annulled electoral bond scheme in 2018, of which the ruling BJP got nearly 55 per cent or Rs 6,565 crore, according to the data available with Election Commission and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
Mounting a scathing attack on the ruling United Progressive Alliance coalition at the Centre, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said it was the "most corrupt" government after Independence and there was a "lack of direction and leadership at the central level". The UPA government is neck-deep in trouble, owing to its explicit greed for power and position. It is least concerned about consolidation and expansion of the economy," he said.
Samajwadi party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Sunday admitted that he had offered "issue based support to the United Progressive Alliance provided it drops Trinamool Congress from the alliance." Pointing out that the UPA government's policies were against common people, he said, "We have opposed their anti-people policies in the Lok Sabha. Our support to them will be based on consensus over issues like national security, price rise and the plight of farmers."
The Union Budget for 2009-10 will reflect UPA government's ambitious agenda like Rs 3 kg rice or wheat for BPL families, enlarging NREGA coverage and more focus on infrastructure to bring the economy on high growth.
