He cited demonetisation, 'wrong' GST and the lockdown as three examples of government's attempt to destroy the informal sector, that provides 90 per cent jobs to people.
Bharatiya Janata Party MP Hansraj Ahir, who has been at the forefront in exposing the scandalous free allotment of coal blocks by the United Progressive Alliance, explains the modus operandi of the coal scam in the second and final part of his interview with rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt.
As the fracas over the coal-gate continued for the 12th day in Parliament, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati on Thursday alleged that the United Progressive Alliance government was playing a double game on the SC/ST quota Bill, and urged it to get the House in order first.
Expressing deep displeasure over India's response to the WikiLeaks cables, veteran BJP leader L K Advani on Thursday said "even now, they (the United Progressive Alliance) should correct themselves".
Mulayam Singh's bid to get a third front on his side is to get into a position where he can barter for the prime minister's job with the support of either the BJP or the Congress, says Seema Mustafa.
Gandhi said that the BJP government has clearly mishandled the economy that was built by the United Progressive Alliance government, and is now resorting to selling the country's assets as a "last resort" to generate some money.
Observing that the United Progressive Alliance government's Land Acquisition Bill is "a political response to a political problem", Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday said his party leader Rahul Gandhi was the force behind the speedy introduction of the bill in Lok Sabha.
Members of the United Progressive Alliance ally Trinamool Congress on Monday voted against a key bill in Lok Sabha that prompted an embarrassed government to immediately take it up with Mamata Banerjee, who promised to look into the matter saying she had not given any such directive.
World over the condition of the poor continues to worsen. The new year will be no different. In India, scam and scandal ridden regime of the Congress-led UPA coalition has been exemplary in its cruelty towards the poor and the common man, writes Gopal Krishna.
With important judgments in the 2G spectrum scam case expected this year, neither the government nor Home Minister P Chidambaram will be able to rest easy.
Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader Vaiko today criticised the United Progressive Alliance government for failure to pass Lokpal Bill in Rajya Sabha and opposed inclusion of Lokayukta in the legislation, saying it was an encroachment on the state's rights.
The Rafale fighter jet will take part in the rehearsals on Thursday for the five-day 12th edition of Asia's premier air show beginning on February 20
During his whirlwind election tour in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, also the United Progressive Alliance's chief interlocutor, tells Saubhadra Chatterji the government has its own way of moving against corruption:
Dinesh Trivedi, a member of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs, says, "Our government is seriously bothered about Anna's health. Why is Team Anna not requesting Annaji to break his fast, even once? I believe the government is more worried about Anna's health than even Team Anna."
With uncertainty looming over the fate of the Lokpal Bill in Rajya Sabha, the United Progressive Alliance government on Thursday hoped that all allies will come around and help in its passage so that possibility of convening a Joint Session of Parliament does not arise.
With the Constitution Amendment Bill on Lokpal failing in Lok Sabha, Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday night demanded resignation of the UPA government on moral grounds.
After failed moves over 43 years, the Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed a historic bill to create a nine-member anti-corruption watchdog Lokpal after a marathon debate but the government suffered a major embarrassment when the legislation to give it a constitutional status was defeated for want of the requisite two-thirds majority
Army chief General V K Singh's aggressive stance over various issues in the last few months is likely to go against the interest of the army.
Taking strong exception to the central government's decision to return the proposal for division of the state into four parts, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Tuesday flayed the United Progressive Alliance regime for what she termed as "total apathy" towards the issue.
Lo and behold the UPA magic. The share of the poor, in whose name all subsidy is created by liberal bleeding hearts, has shrunk from a little under half to just about one-third, write Sonali Ranade and Shaelja Sharma
After the debacle in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress is now facing the problem of some of its chief ministers being in a state of crisis, due to "decision deficits" and dissidents.
A day after the Trinamool Congress, a key ally of the United Progressive Alliance, hinted at going alone in 2014 Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal, a Congress MP on Tuesday said it was impossible for the Mamata Banerjee-led party to win all 42 seats without its support in the state.
The government on Monday firmly rejected the Opposition's contention that the CAG had indicted the Prime Minister's Office on the Commonwealth Games issue and insisted that constitutional processes must be followed before blaming anyone.
Anna Hazare on Wednesday found fault with the government for bringing a separate Citizens' Charter bill saying it was against the assurance given by Parliament to him and urged Trinamool Congress Chief Mamata Banerjee to pressurise the United Progressive Alliance on Lokpal issue as she did on FDI in retail.
Despite the bitterness between the two, the Didi (West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee) from Kolkata decided to begin a new chapter when she sent Dada (President Pranab Mukherjee) a rakhi to tie on his wrist.
With the threat of Anna Hazare's agitation looming large, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called an all-party meeting next week to evolve a broad consensus on the Lokpal Bill and ensure its passage during the current session of Parliament that ends on December 22. Before the all-party meeting, the United Progressive Alliance allies will hold confabulations among themselves on December 13 to devise a common strategy and speak in one voice in Parliament.
The text of Telecom and Communications Minister Kapil Sibal's statement defending Home Minister P Chidambaram on his alleged involvement in the 2G spectrum scam, on behalf of the United Progressive Alliance government
Team Anna on Tuesday appeared set to oppose the United Progressive Alliance in the next Lok Sabha elections saying its mission is to ensure that "new and apt people" come to power in the 2014 polls. It also attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party alleging that it supported the team earlier with a political motive.
The United Progressive Alliance government has decided to make its intelligence agencies accountable to Parliament for scrutiny in the wake of several goof-ups, failures and misuse of the unlimited funds placed at their disposal.
The hope for a better image for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh-led government has diminished drastically with realism setting in that 19 members of its principal ally Trinamool Congress will stall every such move which can be dubbed by Mamata Bannerji as 'anti-poor' or 'anti-farmers', says Sheela Bhatt.
The National Human Rights Commission report prepared for the second universal periodic review, a mechanism created by the United Nations General Assembly in 2006 for examining the universal coverage of human rights across the world, will come up for discussion in a meeting early next year.
With full control over the supply chain, FDI investors will dry up the existing sources on which traders are fully dependent and exploit the situation to their benefit to earn profits.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj on Monday demanded that the United Progressive Alliance government convene an all-party meeting over the issue of Foreign Direct Investment in retail before making any statement on it in the Parliament.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's attempt to win over ally Trinamool Congress on the government's decision to allow FDI in retail was on Friday rebuffed by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who bluntly told him her party cannot back the move.
How would P V Narasimha Rao, who brought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to politics, have dealt with the crises confronting the UPA government? Veteran political commentator Kalyani Shankar assesses Narasimha Rao's likely responses.
Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav's talk of early Lok Sabha polls to his party cadres shocked Congress leaders engaged in backroom talks for the last two weeks to rope in his party to join the United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre for giving it a stability to carry on till 2014.
Yoga guru Ramdev on Wednesday threatened to launch a nationwide agitation against the United Progressive Alliance, starting from five poll-bound states, if it did not take "decisive" steps to bring the Jan Lokpal Bill and repatriate black money stashed abroad in the winter session of Parliament.
Important pieces of legislation, including financial Bills, are required to be introduced and passed.
Gupta, 56, was a Rajya Sabha member and was minister for steel in the United Progressive Alliance government.
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