The ex-foreign secy was the government's pointsman for China and the US.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance is poised to cross 220 seats, well ahead of the United Progressive Alliance and within striking distance of forming a government in 2014 if elections are held today.
Obsessed with spending, the UPA has ignored the vital task of expanding the direct tax net.
Science and Technology Minister S Jaipal Reddy, who represents the Chevella Lok Sabha constituency in Andhra Pradesh, is considered a front runner for the post of chief minister of the proposed state of Telangana. He gives his first formal interview to rediff.com's Anita Katyal.
Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Saturday lashed out at Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi over the claims made in a book by the Prime Minister's former aide, saying the mother and son would have to pay the "price" for running the United Progressive Alliance government from behind the scene.
In Parliament on Tuesday, the Bharatiya Janata Party urged Speaker Meira Kumar to suspend Question Hour to discuss activist Anna Hazare's indefinite fast against corruption.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had been "defanged" by the Congress party in his second term with Sonia Gandhi deciding on key appointments to the Cabinet and to the PMO as he seemed to "surrender" to her and to the United Progressive Alliance constituents.
The farmers' agitation, spread over months, had halted construction and delayed supply of thousands of residential units.
Dr Singh was extremely reluctant to address the press conference and he agreed only after considerable persuasion from senior Congress leaders, says Anita Katyal
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.
The United Progressive Alliance's (UPA) growth story is far from truth and is mere a statistical jugglery.
With the issue of recent clarifications, the government seems to have decided to ensure that few, if any, actual foreign investors choose to enter the sector.
By all accounts, India's poor, mostly in rural areas, can look back to a 10-year period when their lot clearly improved.
The decision of the United Progressive Alliance government to increase surveillance of phones and the Internet has come under flak from human rights groups, reports Vicky Nanjappa.
They noted that the exercise had begun in 2011 and an Inter-Ministerial Group submitted its recommendations in 2012 after meeting for 10 times.
Standard and Poor's (S&P) in its report released on Monday 'Will India Be The First BRIC Fallen Angel?' said: "Slowing GDP growth and political roadblocks to economic policy making could put India at risk of losing its investment grade rating".
Scores of Bharatiya Janata Party's youth wing activists on Sunday clashed with the police when they were stopped from marching towards Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's residence to demand his resignation and proper probe into scams and corruption allegations against the United Progressive Alliance government.
Now that the tears of triumph have been wiped away, and all the top leaders of the neighbourhood invited for the prime minister's inaugural on Monday, everyone has a wish list for what Narendra Modi should do. Modi wants 10 years to transform the face of India, but there are things he can accomplish in 10 months or even 10 weeks. Here are some he could do straightaway.
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.
Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial nominee and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Friday accused the Congress party and the United Progressive Alliance government of conniving with terrorist outfit Indian Mujahideen, suspected to have played a key role behind the serial blasts at his Patna rally last month.
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.
Brushing aside opposition after dithering for nearly four years, the Congress and the United Progressive Alliance coalition on Tuesday unanimously endorsed creation of a separate Telangana state from out of Andhra Pradesh.
However, Congress strategists are not unusually perturbed over the critical barbs aimed at Rahul. They believe his aggressive posture was meant to showcase the 'real Rahul Gandhi'.
"These are irrelevant questions. It's all smoke." This was how Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi described speculation about his becoming the prime minister and getting married while addressing business barons of the country.
Days after the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam pulled out of the United Progressive Alliance, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday candidly admitted that managing coalitions is not easy and urged industry leaders to have faith in government's determination to revive the economy.
The 60-year-old actor, who earlier dabbled in politics as part of the Samajwadi Party, clarified that he wished Jankar luck but would not be joining any party.
Reiterating his determination to wipe out the Congress, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday challenged the United Progressive Alliance to a direct debate on its performance at the Centre compared that of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
In the nationwide CNN-IBN Election Tracker conducted by Centre for the Study of Developing Societies today we look at the northern states -- Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and how has been the performance of the United Progressive Alliance government.
The frenetic activity currently being witnessed in the Congress combined with the United Progressive Alliance government's move to postpone the monsoon session of Parliament till end-August has once again fuelled speculation about the possibility of an early election, says Anita Katyal.
The political situation in the country is fluid and could change significantly. But as things stand, India could be headed for an unstable minority government dependent on uncertain "outside" support, says Praful Bidwai.
President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday accepted the resignation of five ministers belonging to the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, which withdrew support to the United Progressive Alliance government on the Sri Lankan Tamils issue. "The President of India, as advised by the prime minister, has accepted the resignation of the following members of the Union council of ministers with immediate effect," a Rashtrapati Bhavan release said.
The United Progressive Alliance's estranged ally Trinamool Congress on Wednesday sprang a surprise by promising to support the government on whatever stand it takes on Sri Lankan Tamils issue at the United Nations Human Rights Council.
Political analysts are deciphering her desperation as Mamata Banerjee's last resort to fight several investigations launched by the Centre against her party colleagues and close aides.
Last Monday, she termed the Centre's silence over loan repayment restructuring as a 'political vendetta' to ruin Bengal.
The year began with major infrastructure players like GVK, GMR exiting out of mega road contracts on account of problems such as delays in receiving the green nod, funding crunch and regulatory hurdles.
The Indian economy has been shaped by 22 finance ministers till date.
The government plans to convene a special session of Parliament for passage of the Food Security Bill as a divided Cabinet Thursday shunned the idea of promulgating an ordinance to implement the watershed legislation.
It's the floundering economy that caused the Congress' grievous loss in the Assembly elections.
There are a number of problems that plague the implementation of MGNREGA, including corruption, administrative paralysis and other hardy perennials. Massive amounts of funds on this scheme remained unspent in 2010-11 and 2011-12.
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