Keeping the Congress on tenterhooks on their strategy during the crucial Foreign Direct Investment vote on Wednesday, eight party MPs from Telangana region in Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday boycotted a meeting called by party floor leaders in Parliament to seek their assurances on participation in the debate.
"The Mumbai terror attack seems to have hit the UPA government like a thunderbolt and enlightened its vision. The government that used to rubbish any nationalist suggestion to ensure national security by dealing firmly with the terrorists and their domestic harbingers has suddenly woken up and started speaking a new language," said an editorial in RSS mouthpiece Organiser.
With the United Progressive Alliance starting to get its act togther ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar had a meeting with Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday over seat-sharing in Maharashtra and some other states.
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.
As for the crisis emanating from the Kingfisher Airlines' flight cancellations, it is now up to the airline to utilise those measures and come up with resources, he tells Business Standard's Kavita Chowdhury in an interview.
Chief ministers of Tripura and Uttarakhand on Sunday joined the anti- National Counterterrorism Center chorus taking to 12 the number of opposing states even as their Gujarat counterpart Narendra Modi accused United Progressive Alliance of "attacking" the country's federal structure.
Political observers say that neither Mulayam Singh Yadav nor Mayawati have any intention of toppling the UPA government, as neither stand to gain from it. Sharat Pradhan reports
Kasab's execution is part of the government's effort to demonstrate how it will deal with issues of national security strongly, political journalist Rasheed Kidwai tells Priyanka.
A parliamentary committee has recommended delinking creation of Lokayuktas from the Lokpal Bill, a provision that was strongly opposed by cpolitical parties including those supporting the United Progressive Alliance.
Women leaders banged steel plates with spoons as men rang hand-bells during their symbolic demonstration at Vijay Chowk leading to the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Opposition parties are wary that any such attempt that is likely to fail or is even potentially risky will end up helping the Congress eventually, says Sheela Bhatt.
It is unfortunate that the Congress has taken a decision of contesting the elections in alliance with the JMM without even consulting allies in the UPA government, he said.
Continuing the suspense over its stand on an Opposition-sponsored resolution in Parliament against Foreign Direct Investment in retail, United Progressive Alliance ally Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam on Wednesday said its decision would be taken keeping in mind the interest of small and medium traders.
The anti-talks faction of the United Liberation Front of Assam has called for 12-hout Assam bandh on May 26 to protest the visit of the united Progressive Alliance chairman and Congress President Sonia Gandhi to Guwahati on that day.
UPA failed to undertake economic, social and administrative reforms to strengthen India's long-term development potential.
Major parties have lined up a long list of star campaigners to woo voters in Assam where assembly polls are scheduled for April 4 and 11. The ruling Congress, bidding for return to power for the third consecutive term, has a long list of prominent persons, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi, to campaign for the party.
Thank God for the United Progressive Alliance. Without its comic blundering, hiss-worthy arrogance and world-class smugness, we would really be gloomy. A parade of errors and puzzling decisions keeps us angered and entertained -- but most importantly, distracted. Or we would notice our economy's problems are less to do with this or any conceivable government, and more a set of principles and circumstances that aren't being questioned and addressed.
Accusing the opposition of spreading misinformation regarding policy initiatives taken by the United Progressive Alliance government, a combative Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday said reform measures, including FDI in retail, will benefit the common man and create more jobs.
"The fact that not many FTAs were sealed shows the cautious approach of the policy makers," said Ram Upendra Das, fellow, Research and Information System for Developing Countries. "But India has recognised that these duty-free agreements are the order of the day as other countries are engaging in similar deals. Indian exporters will be left out if the nation does not engage in these types of agreements with its trading partners," he added.
The Union Cabinet on Thursday decided to withdraw some amendments it had proposed to the Right to Information Act after protests from civil society, which was also backed by United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi. A meeting of the Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, decided to withdraw the amendments which had sought to restrict disclosure of file notings only to social and development issues under the transparency law.
He said the economy has 'clawed back' to 4.4 per cent in Q1, 4.8 per cent in Q2.
The vote-on-account is essentially a measure to seek Parliament's approval for government expenditure until the full Budget is presented.
The most worrying aspect of defence budgeting is that the military's long-term equipment planning is based on fundamentally flawed fiscal assumptions.
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.
It could become a giant leap towards lasting reform if the experiment in direct benefit transfers for cooking gas subsidies pans out.
Political needs of the Congress largely drove the reshuffle of ministers
To put it starkly, the Congress, and with it, the United Progressive Alliance, is sleepwalking into a minefield by blundering on land and Aadhaar, says Praful Bidwai
Joining the Himachal assembly poll campaign, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Thursday played to the hilt the Congress' 'aam admi' plank by accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party of blocking legislations benefiting the people at large and stressed that the United Progressive Alliance had taken strict action against corruption.
The Union Cabinet is likely to be reshuffled on Sunday. Speculation has been rife about a possible reshuffle in the wake of the exit of Trinamool Congress ministers and Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam representatives A Raja and Dayanidhi Maran in the last two years.
After a bitter separation with the Congress, the Trinamool Congress is mulling moving an adjournment motion under rule 184 that entails voting in the Winter Session of Parliament against the "anti-people" policies of the United Progressive Alliance government.
The lure of the17 Lok Sabha seats in the new Telangana state is driving Sonia Gandhi and her party to make every effort be made to push it through Parliament at the earliest.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi arrived in Kasmir on Tuesday morning. Their visit came within hours of a deadly militant attack at an army convoy that left eight soldiers dead and 11 others wounded in Srinagar.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan talks to rediff.com's Anita Katyal about the current political situation, Narendra Modi's projection by the Bharatiya Janata Party and the future plans of the Congress and the UPA
Downplaying differences between the Congress and its United Progressive Alliance partner Trinamool Congress, Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal on Friday squarely blamed the Opposition for the government's inability to get through the Lokpal Bill and Foreign Direct Investment.
Two Lok Sabha Members of Parliament of Jharkhand Vikas Morcha on Saturday formally withdrew support from the United Progressive Alliance government, slamming it for anti-people decisions like FDI in multi brand retail, inflation and "creating a record in corruption". A delegation of JVM MPs and seniors leaders, led by party chief Babulal Marandi, met President Pranab Mukherjee and submitted a letter withdrawing support from the government.
Cautioning the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government against making any 'hasty' announcements in the name of reforms, key ally Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam on Friday said decisions should be based on "consultations". "My opinion is that hasty decisions and announcements in the name of economic reforms should be avoided. They should be taken after deep consultations and keeping in mind the future prospects of the country," DMK president M Karunanidhi said.
Three MPs, including former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, came on wheelchairs.
Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday took charge as the sixth Minister of Railways in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government's second term.
India on Thursday unleashed a second wave of reforms deciding to open the pension sector to foreign investment and raising the foreign direct investment cap in insurance to 49 per cent, undeterred by opposition to its decisions on FDI in retail and threats to block these legislations.
The Bhartiya Janata Party will pressure the United Progressive Alliance government in the upcoming Parliament session to act on a 23-point charter formulated by its 'task force' for following constitutional, legal, political and geo-political measures to unearth and bring back the Indian monies illegally stashed abroad.
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