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.
With relationships souring between the United Progressive Alliance and its ally Samajwadi Party, and after the fallout with the Dravida Munetra Kazhagam, the Congress may be looking up to team up with Janata Dal-United, and the latter may not be averse to it, says Renu Mittal
After quitting the United Progressive Alliance coalition on the Sri Lankan Tamils issue, the Dravida Munetra Kazhagam on Monday demanded that India should boycott the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting scheduled to be held in Colombo in November.
Yoga guru Ramdev on Saturday alleged that Congress was responsible for large-scale corruption since independence and it must be thrown out of power in the interest of the country.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi on Thursday justified his party's decision to withdraw support to the United Progressive Alliance government on Sri Lankan Tamil issue but refused to term the Centre's stand as a "betrayal".
Amid uproar over the Central Bureau of Investigation's raids against his son M K Stalin, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi on Thursday gave a guarded reaction on whether the action was a case of political vendetta. The DMK patriarch said it could be possible that the raids happened without the knowledge of the United Progressive Alliance government.
In the backdrop of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam withdrawing support to United Progressive Alliance, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party state president Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday said his party's support to the UPA would continue and final decision would be taken by SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav.
With the exit of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam from United Progressive Alliance, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday sought to drive a wedge between Congress and Samajwadi Party demanding immediate removal of Union Minister Beni Prasad Verma for his remarks against Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Criticising the United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre for the country's economic situation, Bharatiya Janata Party president Rajnath Singh on Wednesday said the nation's fiscal health was deteriorating despite having an economist as the prime minister.
Slamming Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam President M Karunanidhi for announcing his party's withdrawal from the United Progressive Alliance over the Sri Lankan Tamils issue, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Tuesday described it as a 'drama'.
The Sensex and the Nifty reached an intra-day low of 18,939 levels and 5,724 mark, respectively.
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.
Rejecting Nitish Kumar's charge that Bihar was being discriminated against and ignored by the United Progressive Alliance government, Congress said nobody should play politics on the issue of special status to the state.
India's reforms are business-friendly rather than market-friendly, says T N Ninan.
Bharatiya Janata Party President Rajnath Singh on Saturday accused the Congress-led United Progresive Alliance government of bluffing the country over the number of lives lost in the recent Uttarakhand flash floods.
The United Progressive Alliance government's proposed Food Safety Bill is nothing more than a vote catching tool for the Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kirit Somaiya said on Saturday.
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.
Key United Progressive Alliance ally Mamata Banerjee, who kept up the suspense till the last moment before backing Pranab Mukherjee in the Presidential elections, on Wednesday attended Mukherjee's oath taking ceremony while no Chief Minister from Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states were present.
Congress general secretary Ajay Maken talks to rediff.com's Anita Katyal about the road ahead for the Congress and the UPA government.
Faced with severe criticism after Italy refused to send back two marines accused of killing Indian fishermen, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government may take a hard stand and expel Rome's envoy in New Delhi Daniele Mancini.
Election Commission of India is set to announce the poll schedule for Karnataka next week. While the Congress is hoping to regain some of its credibility, the BJP already seems to have resigned to its fate. Sunita Moga reports
The Central Bureau of Investigation and the Centre were at loggerheads on the coalgate scam in the Supreme Court on Tuesday with the agency pointing out irregularities in the coal block allocation during the United Progressive Alliance-I tenure and the government vehemently refuting the allegations.
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.
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.
A day after the Congress brainstormed over its electoral reverses, senior leader M Veerappa Moily on Monday said Sonia Gandhi should take "full control" of the party with a free hand to change non-performing leaders, and asserted that a "mere culture of tweets and social media propaganda" would not take the organisation forward.
Altogether 80 out of 81 members of Legislative Assembly in Jharkhand Assembly voted in the presidential elections on Thursday with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party alone among alliance partners backing P A Sangma.
According to Mukherjee, the mere physical presence of the prime minister in Parliament makes a tremendous difference to the functioning of this institution.
At the 13 Talkatora Road bungalow, his home for 16 years, Mukherjee confessed: "Unlike the Lok Sabha elections, in this election, there is no worry."
India on Thursday continued to be evasive on its stand to be adopted on the resolution against Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Commission, triggering an angry walk out in Lok Sabha by United Progressive Alliance constituent Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, which was joined by the Bharatiya Janata Party and Janata Dal-United.
Winding up his campaign for the Presidential election, National Democratic Alliance candidate P A Sangma on Wednesday met Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and thanked her for supporting his candidature for the top post.
United Progressive Alliance on Wednesday projected a united picture on the eve of the Presidential poll with all constituents including Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress and supporting parties attending a lunch hosted by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.
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.
Veteran social activist Anna Hazare on Thursday accused the United Progressive Alliance government of stabbing in his back on the issue of Lokpal Bill and once again threatened hunger strike from October 2 to press for a strong anti-corruption law.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday thanked Trinamool Congress president and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee when she informed him of the party's decision to support United Progressive Alliance candidate Pranab Mukherjee in the Presidential election.
Apart from opening up the possibility of a tie-up for the 2014 general election, the crucial Congress support to Nitish Kumar's trust vote also has other advantages, notes Anita Katyal.
Opposition-backed Presidential poll nominee P A Sangma on Monday said he would move the Supreme Court against the Election Commission's decision to quash the complaint against United Progressive Alliance candidate Pranab Mukherjee's nomination papers after the elections.
The Janata Dal - United, which had backed United Progressive Alliance's Presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee, on Monday supported the Bharatiya Janata Party's candidate Jaswant Singh for the vice presidential election.
With an eye on next year's general elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday projected itself as the sole alternative to Congress, vowing to move ahead with unity and expand the National Democratic Alliance to oust the United Progressive Alliance, which it termed a "coalition of the corrupt".
The Confederation of All India Traders, the apex body of trade federations and small-scale sector players in the country, upped their campaign on Saturday against the United Progressive Alliance government's proposal to bring in foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail by another notch. The CAIT announced a nationwide campaign, 'Retail FDI bhagao, apne vatan ko bachao' (Chase out FDI in retail, save our nation) in the national capital on Saturday.
