Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present her sixth straight Budget ahead of the Parliamentary elections, matching the record of former Prime Minister Morarji Desai. Sitharaman in her pre-election Budget, which technically is a vote on account and popularly termed an interim Budget, will seek Parliament's nod for a grant in advance to meet the central government's essential expenditure for the first four months of the new fiscal year that starts in April. A new government elected after the April/May general elections will present the full Budget, likely in July.
The issues listed by Gandhi include Centre-state relations, rise in cases of communal tension, border transgressions by China and the demand for a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) to investigate the transactions of the Adani business group in light of several revelations.
'Are we so ready to believe that in this country whose virtues we constantly shout from the rooftops, there is no single person -- other than Modi -- in a minimum of 272 elected MPs with the talent and ability to lead this country?' asks Prem Panicker.
Its workers are on their toes to win over the voters once again, with idea of 'Amrit Kaal'.
Downplaying the meeting between Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray and its Maharashtra unit leaders, the Bahartiya Janata Party on Tuesday said there were no political discussions with him and hoped that Shiv Sena will participate in Wednesday's NDA rally against corruption.
As speculation about candidates for Presidential poll intensified after Election Commission announcing July 19 as the poll date, National Democratic Alliance convenor Sharad Yadav on Wednesday said the Opposition alliance has not zeroed on names for the posts of President and Vice President so far.
He has served BJP in several capacities, will also be a saviour for the NDA in the Rajya Sabha, where they are still in minority.
Ever since the DMK pulled out of the NDA, the MDMK has been under pressure to follow suit as the DMK had taken up Vaiko's detention under the Prevention of Terrorism Act as a major issue.
Massive security arrangements have been thrown around the Ashok Hotel as many would be attending the dinner party thrown by the UPA president Sonia Gandhi. A waterproof shamiana has been installed at Vajpayee's place on 6 A Krishna Menon Marg.
Neither the BJP, nor the Congress before it, made any manifesto commitments on defence spending, even though allocations have plummeted from 4 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in the late 1980s to less than 2 per cent today, points out Ajai Shukla.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday said he replaced India with Bharat in his Twitter bio to reflect his 'journey' from the Congress to Bharatiya Janata Party, in a dig at the opposition coalition.
With this kind of coinage, the Opposition seems to be readily conceding the point that Modi is taller than all of them put together. So they need something bigger than themselves, collectively or not, to capture the voter imagination when it is about taking on Modi and the BJP in 2024, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Wednesday admitted a no-confidence motion moved by Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi against the Narendra Modi government after a head count of over 50 MPs as required under the rules.
When asked to spell out the exact number of MLAs backing Ajit Pawar, Patel claimed the entire party (53 MLAs) is together.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance, projected to come to power by exit polls, may review some of the decisions taken by the present United Progressive Alliance government, senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu said on Wednesday.
Addressing a joint press conference after a meeting of 26 opposition parties in Bengaluru, Kharge said, "This was a very important meeting to save democracy and the Constitution in the interest of the people of the country."
The BJP could ask at least a dozen of its 92 Rajya Sabha MPs, particularly those who have served more than one term, to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
By comparing I.N.D.IA. with banned terror outfits, Modi has exhibited the kind of nervousness never ever associated with him even at the height of the Gujarat riots, and certainly since his prime ministerial days, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The ministers quit their posts in protest against central govt to grant special category status to Andhra Pradesh.
The Congress has reasons to enjoy the BJP's discomfiture. After all, the Insurance Bill was introduced by the UPA government in 2008 but was constantly blocked by the BJP on some pretext or the other which was then in the Opposition.
Opposition leaders will also meet the Election Commission and raise the issue of tallying the paper trail of votes with the electronic voting machine figures as directed by the Supreme Court.
Nitish Kumar, once seen as a potential rival to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, broke ranks with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance coalition on Tuesday to stake claim as head of the rival 'Mahagathbandhan' (Grand Alliance) to be the chief minister of Bihar for the eighth time.
Stepping up their offensive, a National Democratic Alliance delegation Saturday met President A P J Abdul Kalam with an appeal to direct Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to forward an opposition petition for the removal of Election Commissioner Chawla.
Call it the art of staying rooted yet bending with prevailing political winds. With Telangana going to the polls in December, and assembly and Lok Sabha elections in Andhra and Odisha scheduled next year, what factors have influenced parties' recent moves?
It is early to make out which way the wind is blowing, but there is no denying that challenges for the BJP, far outweigh the advantages in this region, notes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
The RJD said that it is boycotting the swearing-in ceremony of Kumar as the mandate is against the National Democratic Alliance.
Government on Thursday claimed that it had Congress "cornered" on the penultimate day of the Monsoon Session of the Parliament.
The opposition strategy to corner the government on Manipur will continue in the Rajya Sabha as well, the sources said.
The situation in Manipur and the Delhi services ordinance are set to dominate the Monsoon session of Parliament beginning Thursday with the Opposition gearing up to raise these issues to corner the government.
'Rahul Gandhi is the face of the INDIA alliance. If he contests against a BJP candidate and defeats her/him, it will send a strong message.'
The SP chief said, "If the Congress behaves like this, who will stand with them."
The Congress and the Left parties have not only extended support to the Samajwadi Party candidate but are also campaigning for him, in accordance with the spirit of the new opposition togetherness ahead of next year's general election.
She expressed confidence that a three-way alliance is very much possible in West Bengal between her Trinamool Congress, Congress and the Left.
In future if the party wins, people would say 'INDIA has won,' but if the party loses, then people would say 'INDIA has lost'
The 70-year-old leader attended a meeting of the floor leaders of NDA allies in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha in the Parliament chamber of Opposition leader Lal Krishna Advani on Thursday.
The opposition alliance has taken exception to Union Law Minister H R Bhardwaj's statement on Tuesday that the earliest the polls could be held in the state was in September.
It is thanks to the policy of liberalisation conceived by Manmohan Singh and enforced by P V Narasimha that the Indian economy has now become the world's 5th largest economy by nominal GDP, asserts Dr Sudhir Bisht.
Vadra said he keeps away from politics but "I will speak to fight for my name because if there is anything they say they have to prove it".
According to sources, Preneet Kaur, a Congress MP, is believed to have voted in support of the report.
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