With this, the Cabinet will reach its full strength of 34.
Congress on Monday claimed that the United Progressive Alliance government is "strong and stable" despite the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen becoming the third constituent to withdraw support after Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress and Babualal Marandi's Jharkhand outfit.
What some of our leaders were up to on the weekend.
Three recent initiatives kicked off with renewed vigour to improve governance were actually started, perhaps in a different format by the UPA government.
"How can you expect Vaiko to accept my appeal to continue in the DPA when he has not respected the statement of his own mother," Karunanidhi asked.
Exuding confidence that United Progressive Alliance would retain power at the Centre, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad claimed on Friday the alliance would benefit hugely from the National Democratic Alliance's old allies like All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Telugu Desam Party snapping ties with it.
Training her guns on the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati was extremely critical of President Pratibha Patil's address to the joint sitting of parliament in New Delhi on Thursday.
Admitting there is a development deficit in areas affected by Left-wing extremism, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday said his government is determined to address the deficit, while maintaining that the menace remains a "major problem."
Delivering a speech at a rally in Jalpaiguri on Wednesday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused the Congress-led UPA government of denying funds while spending 'so much money' for its advertisement campaign.
It is assumed that the growing worry over slowing down of economic growth had prompted the government to act.
Union Minister and National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah on Monday ruled out quitting the United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre over the hanging of Afzal Guru, an issue on which Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had made some strong statements. "Why should we leave the government? We have got a job to do. You don't leave, I have no such idea," Abdullah said.
The Left parties, however, opposed the privatisation of the Delhi and Mumbai airports.
A latest expose involving gross impropriety on the part of a government servant who has been dealing with sensitive issues and government institutions in New Delhi, is set to once again embarrass Manmohan Singh's government.
Breaking its silence, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Tuesday decided to support with "bitterness" the United Progressive Alliance government in Parliament on Foreign Direct Investment in the retail sector issue in order to prevent "communal" forces coming to power.
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Monday raked up the issue of terrorism to attack Bharatiya Janata Party, saying nearly 22,000 people died due to the menace during the NDA regime, while there were only 800 such deaths in the UPA's last five-year tenure.
Industries Minister P Thangamani told the assembly. He was responding to a query by A Sounderrajan of CPI-M.
The internal security scenario has by and large been satisfactory... Poverty has declined at twice the rate that it did before the UPA government's tenure... Prime Minister Manmohan Singh addresses coalition partners at the dinner meet commemorating the United Progressive Alliance's three years in power.
The BJP's challenge is whether it can again deflate a Congress, which now looks reinvigorated and has adopted sharper messaging around its 'guarantees', and several regional parties, especially in Bihar, Maharashtra and West Bengal.
'It is not just about numbers. Sometimes coalitions and alliances have symbolic value.'
Smarting under its recent electoral debacle, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam will make a token representation at the second anniversary celebrations of the United Progressive Alliance II in New Delhi on Sunday evening. None of its six Union ministers will be present at the event
He asserted that the UPA's communist allies would prove to be a 'liability' in achieving any good.
The government convened a meeting of UPA allies in the wake of persisting opposition demand for JPC into 2G spectrum allocation, an issue which has paralysed Parliament turning the winter session into a virtual washout.
The Bal Thackeray-led Shiv Sena today took to the streets to protest the fuel price hike and FDI in retail sector by the Centre and asked the Trinamool Congress and the Nationalist Congress party to withdraw support to the United Progressive Alliance government.
'The Congress is not pragmatic about politics or about people.' 'Rahul's intention is good, but good intention does not win you elections.'
The ruling MLAs took part in the meeting called by Soren with their luggage before leaving for unknown destination.
The Interim Budget was presented as an impressive report card of the UPA government -- the FM couldn't help lauding the UPA in pulling off an unprecedented GDP growth during its tenure.
Without naming Uddhav Thackeray, Shah, who was speaking at the launch of Marathi version of the booked 'Modi@20', also reiterated there was no agreement on sharing the chief minister's post in the run up to the 2019 assembly polls.
The NCP leader said that he will be happy to cooperate with the ED so that the agency understands the "complexities" of the aviation sector.
Yadav was given notice to appear for questioning on Tuesday after he did not do so on March 4 and March 11, they said.
The Communist Party of India Marxist, the largest among the Left parties, said the increase in FDI cap would lead to the outflow of Indian people's savings to lubricate speculative profits. It maintained that the Left had not allowed the UPA to take this decision for the past four years.
In signals that he could well be the next prime ministerial candidate, the Congress on Monday declared that Rahul Gandhi will lead the United Progressive Alliance's campaign in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and take up an "important responsibility very soon". Congress spokesperson P C Chacko appeared confident about UPA-III, with the party planning to go for ties-ups before and after the polls in a big way.
Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday said the United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre was on a "ventilator", supported by Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party, which were always talking about mid-term polls. BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu said the UPA government was the "worst and corrupt government," and the country hadn't had such a government since independence.
Expressing disappointment with the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party's decision to abstain from voting on the issue of Foreign Direct Investment in multi-brand retail in the Lok Sabha, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley, on Thursday said that the Congress-led UPA is a lame-duck government dependent on costly support.
On a two-day tour of her constituency Rae Bareli, Gandhi highlighted the UPA government's focus on education. She sought to impress upon all how the a budgetary provision of Rs. 2.25 lakh crore had been made to insure successful implementation of the Right to Education Act over the next five years
Trinamool Congress, a former ally of the United Progressive Alliance, will move a no-confidence motion against the UPA government on Thursday when Parliament meets for the winter session.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader M Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday said the bandh against UPA government's policies was a success and its message was to roll back FDI in retail, diesel price hike and rationing of gas cylinders.
The Centre on Thursday said the United Progressive Alliance allies were not covered in the reshuffle of the Council of Ministers in view of the upcoming assembly elections in various states."It was not that big a reshuffle. Only the portfolios were shuffled," Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni said while briefing media on the Cabinet meeting."It was not that big a reshuffle. Only the portfolios were shuffled," Information, Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni said
The Communist Party of India Marxist on Monday dismissed as 'defunct and ineffective' the United Progressive Alliance -Left Coordination Committee and said it made little difference whether to continue in it or not. ''The UPA-Left Coordination Committee was formed for exchange of opinion between the government and Left parties on major policies. But it has now virtually turned into an ineffective and defunct body,'' CPI-M politburo member Biman Bose said.