Rulers in New Delhi and their political aides in sensitive states like Tamil Nadu have to be doubly careful not to provoke a situation whose consequences may be much more than visible now to the naked eye, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The BJP game-plan: Take the top slot, or a close second, either for the 'Lotus' or the larger NDA, if it can and push the AIADMK to the third place, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
Launching an attack on the economic policies of the UPA government, Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the main reason behind the "despair" prevailing in the country was that nobody takes responsibility.
Key United Progressive Alliance ally Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday said the Centre's ruling coalition had become "vulnerable" after the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's pullout and that elections were round the corner.
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Thursday said it's a pity that since switching sides, Scindia has adopted the Modi government's "uncaring attitude" to the public.
Modi launched a scathing attack on the Congress alleging that the opposition party has become outdated and has always been against any kind of reservation.
'They just say we agree to your demands in the meetings, which is lip service. But on the ground they do not implement anything.'
It said AMU is not and cannot be a university of any particular religion or religious denomination as any university which has been declared an institution of national importance cannot be a minority institution.
In switching over, Nitish has sent out a message that if he could not now become the NDA's PM, then he would need to stay on as CM at the very least, which a third term for Modi would not let him have, N Sathiya Moorthy points out.
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.
The Samajwadi Party on Tuesday said it was not supporting the UPA government due to any compulsion, a day after Union minister Beni Prasad Verma claimed that SP and Bahujan Samaj Party will continue supporting the dispensation at the Centre.
'There was trust, but perhaps there was also this apprehension that given the supreme post of prime minister, Sonia Gandhi felt her authority may be a challenged.'
According to DMK, the voters are already consolidated on ideological lines, hence the impact of anti-incumbency, whether against the BJP Centre or the DMK state may not be too much, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'After Manoj Jarange Patil began his long march towards Mumbai on January 20, he kept increasing his demands and the government meekly surrendered to him.'
The poverty ratio in the country has fallen steeply during the UPA regime to 21.9 per cent in 2012 from 37.2 per cent in 2004, said the UPA government's Report Card released by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Neerja Chowdhury analyses why BSP supremo Mayawati is bargaining hard with the UPA government
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday warned that Bihar's areas close to the borders (seemant) will become 'infested with infiltrators' if Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not voted back to power.
This is the first bill passed by the Lower House of Parliament in the Winter session, which began on Monday.
"The remark is disgraceful and unfortunate," Dr Singh told reporters in Parliament when asked to comment on Advani's statement in Lok Sabha.
Odisha Chief Minister and Biju Janata Dal supremo Naveen Patnaik on Thursday ruled out his party's support to the UPA government at the Centre which was facing "instability" following Trinamool Congress' decision to withdraw support.
In an exclusive interview with IBNLokmat, Union Agriculture Minister and Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar has blamed the United Progressive Alliance for the spiralling prices of food items.
Manmohan Singh, reveals the former President, was keen that either P Chidambaram or Montek Singh Ahluwalia be the finance minister.
For the entire UPA regime, from 2005-06 to 2013-14, the average annual farm growth according to the GDP back series data is 3.8 per cent, which too is higher than the first four years of the NDA, though these two periods aren't comparable because one spans nine years and the other four.
Biju Janata Dal supremo and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday termed as "baseless rumours" reports that his party would support the United Progressive Alliance government following the Trinamool Congress's pullout. He also made it clear that there was no question of the BJD abstaining if the UPA government seeks a trust vote in Parliament.
Ahead of the monsoon session of Parliament, leaders of the UPA allies on Monday met in New Delhi to discuss their strategy to counter the Opposition which is geared up to target the government on price rise and a host of other issues.
Trinamool Congress strategy of opposing the United Progressive Alliance candidate has raised question mark over its continuance in the Congress-led coalition.
Agriculture credit jumped seven-fold to Rs 7,00,000 crore (Rs 7 trillion) in the past ten years of UPA government, boosting foodgrains output to a record and enabling enactment of food law.
Troubleshooter for the Congress and the government not long ago, Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday refrained from making any comments on UPA-II at a time when it is accused of non-performance.
Veteran Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani on Friday lashed out at the United Progressive Alliance government describing it as "indecisive and incompetent."
The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed activist Teesta Setalvad and her husband Javed Anand to cooperate with the Gujarat Police in connection with a case filed against them over alleged misappropriation of funds.
It will expedite disposal of cases as they won't get inordinately delayed, Shah said.
England stuck to their gameplan in the second innings, attacking the spinners at every opportunity as the Indians came undone and clearly looked bereft of ideas.
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee declined to attend the dinner being hosted by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi on the eve of Presidential elections.
The CAG observed there was no change in the price of 'flyaway aircraft package'.
The Zoram People's Movement (ZPM) stormed to power in Mizoram by dethroning the Mizo National Front (MNF) bagging 27 seats in the 40-member House on Monday.
The RSS has accused Congress-led UPA of dilly-dallying over the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru to appease the minority community.
NDA should not repeat former govt's mistake of holding back much-needed reforms
She has shown shrewdness, sensitivity, and courage. All of these will be needed in ample quantities for the real challenge that will emerge after the elections, notes Shreekant Sambrani.
UPA-II has yielded a 7.5 per cent average annual growth rate
Lalu was apparently referring to his wife Rabri Devi.
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