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.
The minister said he was able to build consensus on VAT when he was the Finance Minister during the UPA-I term.
As the United Progressive Alliance-II government completed two years in office, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday dubbed it the "most dishonest" government in the history of independent India and charged it with failing on fundamental issues of corruption and price rise.
The methods being used by the government to window-dress the fiscal deficit will fool no one, least of all foreign investors or bodies like the IMF, warns Sonali Ranade
The biggest challenge before Chidambaram, who will be presenting his eighth budget, would be to keep every constituent happy, arrest decelerating economic growth and bring down fiscal deficit to committed level of 4.8 per cent of the gross domestic product.
The Bharatiya Janata Party said the first anniversary of the United Progressive Alliance-II was marked by "disappointment and betrayal of common man" and that price rise, corruption and surge in Naxal violence were the "achievements" of the government which could complete one year by "misusing" the Central Bureau of Investigation.
The United Progressive Alliance II faced "red lines" that are not obvious unlike UPA-I but the government learnt to adjust and get the allies on board, Union Home Minister P Chidambaram said on Wednesday.
Dravida Munettra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi on Tuesday refused to rate the three year performance of the United Progressive Alliance-II government, saying there are "ups and downs" for every government.
'...still have lost the 2014 Lok Sabha polls but could have won 140 seats.'
The BJP state unit hailed Vasan and said his advice will be used in the coming days to guide the alliance.
After giving the dinner hosted by Dr Manmohan Singh on the occasion of the third anniversary of the United Progressive Alliance-II in New Delhi a skip and strongly protesting against the petrol hike, West Bengal Chief Minister shared the stage with the prime minister at a function in Kolkata.
An IAS officer of 1973 batch of the Gujarat cadre, Chawla also hold additional charge of the Department of Economic Affairs and the Department of Financial Services.
In New Delhi The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam during winter session of Parliament would maintain neutrality, but will oppose the United Progressive Alliance-II's stance on price rise and the Kudankulam issues.
Exuding confidence that Left Front would come back in its bastions, Communist Party of India-Marxist General Secretary Prakash Karat on Monday criticised the United Progressive Alliance-II for following anti-people policy. "In the UPA's first term, the Left exercised all restrains and succeed in checking prices, disinvestment and subjugation by the government to the corporate," said Karat.
Specially designed coaches for adverse weather conditions have been inducted for rail travel in Kashmir Valley.
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.
Common people's views about the economic policies of the United Progressive Alliance government.
Bharatiya Janata Party's senior leader Rajnath Singh on Saturday asked the Manmohan Singh-led United Progressive Alliance II government to stop all dialogue with Pakistan and recall its high commissioner in Islamabad in wake of entire nation being angry over the ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops along the Line of Control.
"There will be no President's rule in Andhra Pradesh," said a senior All India Congress Committee functionary on condition of anonymity.
The National Human Rights Commission report prepared for the second universal periodic review, a mechanism created by the United Nations General Assembly in 2006 for examining the universal coverage of human rights across the world, will come up for discussion in a meeting early next year.
The reshuffle in the Cabinet of Ministers in the United Progressive Alliance II threw up a few surprises on Wednesday.
In a strongly-worded letter to Bharatiya Janata Party President Nitin Gadkari, eminent lawyer and MP Ram Jethmalani has alleged party leaders are "silent against the huge corruption" in United Progressive Alliance-II government and are instead engaged in infighting.
It could become a giant leap towards lasting reform if the experiment in direct benefit transfers for cooking gas subsidies pans out.
Leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley said on Tuesday that if the United Progressive Alliance II government continues to make major blunders like manhandling of Baba Ramdev's supporters at Ramlila Ground, the general elections may be held earlier than schedule.
Ruling out early elections, the minister said the government would last for 13 months more and would continue to take small but significant steps to ensure that the country achieves its potential growth rate of 8 per cent.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday said the Indian economy may have slowed down but there is no threat of a recession.
He said he had achieved a fair measure of success in stablising India's economy and aimed to make it the third-biggest after the US and China.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati will boycott the United Progressive Alliance-II anniversary celebrations and the subsequent dinner in New Delhi on Saturday.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday expressed disappointment about the outcome of a meeting with Union Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on the financial condition of the cash-strapped state.
It requires Rs 90,000 crore (Rs 900-billion) investment, of which one-third (Rs 30,000 crore or Rs 300 billion) should be private equity.
Amid concerns within the party over 'limitations' in a coalition government, top Congress leaders including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi will discuss threadbare future strategies during a day-long session on .
In his first press conference in the last four years, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh described the first year of the United Progressive Alliance-II as one of "reasonable achievement" but said his government could have done more.
Reinforcing Defence Minister A K Antony's virtual no 2 slot in the United Progressive Alliance II government's pecking order, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is understood to have issued a communication that the former will chair union cabinet meetings, if required, during his visit to Iran.
The tussle for No 2 position in United Progressive Alliance-II has put the spotlight on the political careers of A K Antony and Maratha strongman Sharad Pawar, which show striking similarities.
Troubled with a variety of mind-boggling scams and executive over reach have troubled the trauma of a shaken Congress led United Progressive Alliance-II government as the Supreme Court has also virtually cut its wings by passing a detailed order asserting that the government's right arm Central Bureau of Investigation can't be allowed to be caged but free to fly without any hindrance as was exposed in the blatant interference by the Prime Minister's Office.
The revelation by CBI director Ranjit Sinha that the law minister and other officials had vetted a status report on coal-gate which was submitted to the SC may result in a severe grilling for Ashwani Kumar when the SC hears the case on April 30. Rakesh Bhatnagar reports.
The major focus of this year's Economic Survey was on pushing economic growth, which has been projected by the Central Statistical Organisation at 5 per cent for this fiscal, sharply lower than the original estimate of 7.6 per cent (+/- 0.25 per cent).
Prime Minister is conspicuously silent on critical issues relating to infrastructure in his press conference.
There is evidence that the United Progressive Alliance II, under Manmohan Singh's leadership, is winding down even though it has not crossed its halfway mark yet.
'Kapil Sibal has passed a law that anyone posting anything "offensive" on Twitter can be jailed for three years. That's section 66A of the IT Act amended by United Progressive Alliance II in 2008. It's a cognisable offence so you have to be arrested and apply for bail. As though you had committed murder!' notes Shivam Vij.
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