It is expected that the finance ministry will be handled for some time by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
'There is no scope for any doubt. This was a scheme designed to enrich the ruling party.'
Ramesh also listed several previous occasions when special sessions or special sittings were held and the list of business was known in advance.
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Voting will be held in the Rajya Sabha on Friday on the Bharatiya Janata Party's motion opposing the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance Government's move to allow Foreign Direct Investment in multi-brand retail.
Bahujan Samaj Party leader Mayawati has decided to support the government on FDI as she does not want to destabilise the government, reports Renu Mittal
With both friends and foes warning that spiralling prices of essential commodities might sound the 'death knell' for the Manmohan Singh government, reining in inflation will be a task for the UPA to accomplish to escape the ire of voters. As the government is caught in the web of coalition politics, the Congress-led UPA has to do a tight-rope walk so as not to annoy its Left partners and at the same time keep the voters in good humour by containing inflation.
Key UPA constituent Trinamool Congress, however, may propose the name of former West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi as Mamata Banerjee is not quite enthusiastic about Ansari's candidature for second term
"The nation is paying a very heavy price for having a non-performing government headed by the weakest ever Prime Minister in India's history. The Prime Minister's office has been so devalued that his writ does not run even in his own cabinet," Advani alleged. He claimed the UPA regime, in addition to having failed to keep its own coalition in order, had also failed to tackle the issues of terrorism and price rise.
If the government manages to deliver on Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's scheme of providing grains to the needy at nominal rates, it could mean an end malnutrition issues in rural areas.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday called up Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee after which the key United Progressive Alliance ally decided to attend a meeting of the ruling coalition in Delhi on July 14.
Defending his party's decision to support the Presidential poll contest, Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani on Monday said the government has to build consensus on the issue and the UPA dispensation made no such effort as it sought support for Pranab Mukherjee only after announcing his candidature.
After some Governors, it was the turn of Vice-Chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority M Shashidhar Reddy and five of its members to resign after the new government asked them to quit their posts.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Monday said that the United Progressive Alliance government will come back to power after the next general elections as the Manmohan Singh regime has not only lifted the country's economic growth rate, but made the process pro-poor as well.
Modi launched a scathing attack on the Congress alleging that the opposition party has become outdated and has always been against any kind of reservation.
Though CPI has called for review of support to the UPA, the CPI(M) has said withdrawal of Left support at this juncture would mean bringing down the government, which would be 'counter-productive' and only help the BJP.
Poor shape of economy and massive corruption in UPA government would result in defeat of the ruling coalition in the next general elections, BJP MP and party's spokesperson Prakash Javadekar claimed in Hyderabad on Monday.
'This is not about revering women; this is about women entering politics.' 'This is about women having a say in how State policies have to be shaped.'
The United Progressive Alliance will face the monsoon session of Parliament, which begins on Wednesday, on a high, having proved that when it comes to numbers it can beat its opponents hollow.
Mayawati said she would announce her party's stand in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Days after Dr Singh begged the nation for their trust and sought to detail that money does not grow on trees, an Right to Information query has revealed that the prime minister spent Rs 7,721 on each plate of dinner that was served at the third anniversary celebrations of the UPA-II government held at his residence in New Delhi in May.
Yadav also pressed for the caste census which, he said, would be a major issue in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
If the poll surveys pointing to a near-whitewash for the Congress in the five assembly elections are any indication, the United Progressive Alliance government it heads will find it increasingly difficult to govern, as it will now have to contend with an aggressive opposition and far more assertive allies. The situation is unlikely to improve even after the session ends as the looming 2014 Lok Sabha elections will reduce the UPA to a 'lame duck' government, feels Anita Katyal
In switching over, Nitish has sent out a message that if he could not now become the NDA's PM, then he would need to stay on as CM at the very least, which a third term for Modi would not let him have, N Sathiya Moorthy points out.
The Bharatiya Janata Party was on Friday evasive on whether it will demand a floor test in Parliament to determine if the Manmohan Singh-led government enjoyed a majority, following the withdrawal of support to it by Trinamool Congress.
As soon as the House met for the day, Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies raised the issue vociferously with Deputy Leader of the Opposition V K Malhotra taking exception to the formation of the committee.
'Without a poverty line, how are we to know whether poverty is the same, or it has come down or it has gone up?'
While Rahul Gandhi has seen a number of houses, he may also opt to stay with his mother and Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi.
The war of words between Trinamool Congress and Congress on Wednesday intensified with Mamata Banerjee saying her party was not in the United Progressive Alliance at anyone's "mercy".
The party said that in the last three years, the government had failed to implement any of the 17 demands put forth by the party.
The Opposition is likely to raise the issues of fuel price hike, the Bhopal gas tragedy case, unrest in Kashmir and talks with Pakistan. It is also likely to attack the government over a series of train accidents in recent months, including the one today in West Bengal.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, while being enumerated for Census 2011 last week, said the data from this massive exercise would be a treasure house of information to help the government plan development work.
The Zoram People's Movement (ZPM) stormed to power in Mizoram by dethroning the Mizo National Front (MNF) bagging 27 seats in the 40-member House on Monday.
Left party leaders hoped that a decision will be taken by Friday.
The Nationalist Congress Party on Thursday attributed the drubbing the Congress-led UPA has received in polls mainly to the "communication deficit" on part of outgoing prime minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi and also to issues like hike in prices of fuel and LPG cylinders by the ruling dispensation.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday attributed nine per cent economic growth rate in 2005-06 to the United Progressive Alliance government's investment-friendly policies.
Asking the UPA itself to review its performance so far in a 'frank and transparent spirit', Bardhan said the Left parties should meet after the Presidential election and do the same.
'They just say we agree to your demands in the meetings, which is lip service. But on the ground they do not implement anything.'
On the eve of the all-party meeting on Lokpal issue, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday night held consultations with United Progressive Alliance constituents after which a "broad consensus" was reported on the approach to the matter.
Noting that the CPI-M will oppose UPA's policies both inside and outside the government, he said his party has not discussed the issue of withdrawing support to the Central government.
