Spending on welfare schemes has burgeoned, but to little effect.
Political parties in Nagaland barring the ruling Naga People's Front is rooting for deferment of the next assembly election in the state till a final solution is arrived at in the ongoing Naga peace process.
A countrywide survey done ABP News and Nielsen spells doom for the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance.If Lok Sabha polls were held right now, says the survey, the UPA will win only 136 of the 543 seats in the Lower House.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani, who is on an anti-corruption yatra, on Friday fired a fresh salvo at the United Progressive Alliance government claiming that it was following 'discriminatory' policies against non-Congress ruled states.
Kadapa MP Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, who is in prison as an undertrial in a disproportionate assets case, stepped out of Hyderabad's Chanchalguda jail to cast his vote at the Andhra Pradesh assembly in the ongoing presidential elections.
Union Agriculture Minister and key United Progressive Alliance leader Sharad Pawar on Sunday favoured a non-political candidate as the next President in view of the fact that UPA and National Democratic Alliance did not have the strength to elect their own nominee.
Ahead of the Parliament session beginning November 22, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is meeting leaders of the United Progressive Alliance constituents and outside supporters to firm up a strategy to unitedly face any Opposition onslaught on issues like the Foreign Direct Investment in retail and price hike.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday said it will hold peaceful protests across the country against the crackdown on Baba Ramdev's agitation and meet President Pratibha Patil to demand convening of a special session of Parliament to discuss the issue.
Communist Party of India National General Secretary A B Bardhan on Tuesday claimed that a 'Third Front', as a viable alternative to the United Progressive Alliance and Nationalist Democratic Alliance, would emerge with like-minded Left parties and some pro-poor regional parties coming together.
Then prime minister Manmohan Singh's brief to his new information and broadcasting minister Manish Tewari on what should be the government's approach to the media was simple -- it should be an essay in persuasion, not coercion.
Lone member of the Rajya Sabha from Mizoram Lalhming Liana on Friday said he would not support the United Progressive Alliance government when voting takes place in the upper house on Foreign Direct Investment in retail.
Displaying a washing machine on its press conference dais, the Congress on Saturday taunted the Bharatiya Janata Party over the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filing a closure report in a 2017 corruption case against Nationalist Congress Party leader Praful Patel and said the ruling party's 'fully automatic washing machine' works on the principle -- 'join BJP, case closed'.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday announced the formation of a seven-party rainbow alliance for the April 24 Lok Sabha polls in Tamil Nadu, in its first-ever such electoral venture in the state where the turf has been largely dominated by Dravida Munetra Kazhagam and All India Anna Dravida Munetra Kazhagam.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday gave a vote of confidence to the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which is generating Aadhaar numbers for India's 1.2-billion strong population.
The Budget is disappointing because it refuses to fundamentally repudiate fiscal populism.
Collusion between ruling parties, corporate donations under Companies Bill is hidden. Environmental concerns made subservient to Cabinet Committee on Investment and regulatory agencies made toothless. Promotion of hazardous technologies for generating power from waste is anti-public health, say activist Gopal Krishna.
In the backdrop of escalated stand-off between the Congres-led United Progressive Alliance and its outside supporters the Left parties, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Lal Kishenchand Advani on Thursday termed the Manmohan Singh government as a lame duck and said political uncertainity was prevailing in the country.
Quoting Modi's oft-repeated statement that participation of states was important for country's growth, the finance minister said the government will take states along and address their issues.
Narendra Modi's elevation in the BJP has given a fillip to the idea of an alternative forum for those who want to counter him for the 2002 Gujarat riots and for those like Nitish Kumar who do not wish to be part of a dispensation which is steered by him, says Saroj Nagi
The seven-year-old Congress- Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam alliance virtually ended on Saturday with the DMK ministers deciding to withdraw from the Union Cabinet.
The monthly hike in price came after several rounds discussions that the new Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan held with state-owned oil firms on continuing with the reform initiated by the United Progressive Alliance government.
Triumphant over the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in making it swallow threat to quit the United Progressive Alliance government, Congress president Sonia Gandhi has asked the party managers to strike a similar hard bargain with Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress for alliance in the upcoming West Bengal assembly elections.
Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council will be taken only after a discussion with Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi.
Amid escalating tensions with Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, the Congress on Saturday said it was open to the idea of a United Progressive Alliance coordination committee to bring greater cohesion within the alliance. At the same time, it dismissed suggestions that the Congress was scared of Trinamool entering the poll fray in Uttar Pradesh or any other state.
Expressing concern over the 'poor financial situation' in the railways, opposition parties on Thursday asked the government to come out with steps to be taken to improve the condition of the public sector unit behemoth.
After the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam pulled out of the United Progressive Alliance government on Saturday night after a fall out over seat sharing, the big question being asked in the power corridors in New Delhi was whether the Congress will go alone in the upcoming Tamil Nadu polls.
With party leader Shivanand Tiwari's remark on United Progressive Alliance's handling of the economy creating unease in ally Bharatiya Janata Party, senior Janata Dal-United leaders on Saturday got into fire-fighting mode and advised its spokespersons to consult them before speaking out.
First look on remembering Rajiv Gandhi.
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.
The beleaguered United Progressive Alliance got a boost on Saturday with the Rashtriya Lok Dal, led by Ajit Singh, deciding to join the coalition at the Centre and fight the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections in alliance with the Congress. Ajit Singh, whose RLD has five members in the Lok Sabha, met Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday evening and expressed his willingness to join UPA. His decision was welcomed by the Congress president.
The Congress is showing a combative mood in defence of the party-led United Progressive Alliance's policy on coal allocation.
In escalation of confrontation, the National Democratic Alliance on Monday decided to target Home Minister P Chidambaram by boycotting him and not allowing him to speak in Parliament, holding him also responsible for the 2G scam.
Opinions are being formed about the UPA and erstwhile NDA governments at the onset of elections across states.
Several scams have seriously dented the image of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government and positioned the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party in better place for the 2014 elections, and by jailing Anna Hazare the government looked both "inept and undemocratic", a Congressional report on India has said.
'If the Maha Vikas Aghadi thinks that they have won 30 (Lok Sabha) seats and that would translate to winning 180 assembly seats they would be living in a fool's paradise.'
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has questioned the granting of hefty funds to certain states by Pranab Mukherjee, the United Progressive Alliance's Presidential candidate, and sought to know if this was meant to influence the ruling parties including Samajwadi Party, Janata Dal - United and the Trinamool Congress.
The Sensex and the Nifty reached an intra-day low of 18,939 levels and 5,724 mark, respectively.
Apparently referring to ally Trinamool Congress, United Progressive Alliance Presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday once again appealed to those who have not yet decided on supporting him to do so.
Senior Congress leader Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi's wife Deepa had on Sunday said that though the Trinamool was part of the United Progressive Alliance government, yet it issued statements against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and government policies. Also, she charged that Mamata put no photos of either Dr Singh or Congress chief Sonia Gandhi when she inaugurated projects in West Bengal.
With the United Progressive Alliance announcing the candidature of Pranab Mukherjee for the President's post, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Finance Minister have reached out to Janata Dal-United leader Nitish Kumar for support but he was non-committal.
