After division in the National Democratic Alliance ranks, the Bharatiya Janata Party and some other allies appeared set to back P A Sangma, who quit the Nationalist Congress Party, ignoring its direction not to contest the Presidential poll against United Progressive Alliance nominee Pranab Mukherjee.
Bharatiya Janata Party president Rajnath Singh has said his party will focus on improving its electoral prospects in the southern states and the north-east in the next general elections, as part of the National Demcoratic Alliance's efforts to win more seats and wrest power from the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance coalition.
National Democratic Alliance Working Chairperson L K Advani on Thursday met Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in Chennai on to discuss fresh developments in the run-up to Presidential election and they agreed to "coordinate" with each other on their strategy.
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.
A day after Singh stirred up the hornet's nest and the Congress distanced itself from the leader, party MP in charge of communication, Ramesh told the media while walking for the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Jammu and Kashmir that all queries related to the surgical strike uproar have been answered by his party and the media needs to aim its questions at Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Lisa Curtis, who served as deputy assistant to President Trump and as National Security Council senior director for South and Central Asia from 2017 to 2021, said she expected the same bumps for India and the US, as in Trump's first term, including tariff, dependence on Russia over arms supply and oil purchase from Iran. Curtis, however, said both countries could never enter an alliance but develop a partnership that is "short of an alliance". She hoped them to achieve a cooperation that deters China, but also prepares both countries in case of a crisis or conflict, be it in the Taiwan Strait, the South China Sea, or another flare-up on the India-China border.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council will be taken only after a discussion with Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Opinions are being formed about the UPA and erstwhile NDA governments at the onset of elections across states.
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.
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.
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.
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