Economists Maitreesh Ghatak, Parikshit Ghosh and Ashok Kotwal challenge the prevailing view that the diminished electoral prospects of the United Progressive Alliance government is the result of neglecting growth to launch populist welfare schemes. They look at a wide range of economic indicators to argue that compared to the National Democratic Alliance regime, the UPA period has been characterised by faster growth, higher savings and investment, growing foreign trade and capital inflows, and increased infrastructure spending in partnership with private capital.
The 78-year-old Naveen is on the cusp of creating history. He must win the forthcoming Assembly polls to become India's longest-serving chief minister, a record held by Sikkim's Pawan Kumar Chamling.
Asserting that inclusive growth will remain as central plank of the United Progressive Alliance, Congress President Sonia Gandhi said it was in tune with this concept that the government had launched a series of welfare programmes and legislative initiatives, especially for the weaker sections.
Agricultural Minister and Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Wednesday said Trinamool Congress, which has withdrawn support from UPA government over FDI in retail issue, had every right to take its own decision and work for it and so has the UPA government to persist with its policy.
The Telangana Rashtra Samithi on Friday said it is confident that the UPA leadership will fulfill the announcement it made for the formation of a separate Telangana state despite vehement opposition from other regions of Andhra Pradesh over the issue.
As he gets ready to launch his indefinite hunger strike from Tuesday to demand a strong Lokpal, Anna Hazare on Monday said people are angry with the UPA government over "uncontrolled corruption" which has been reflected in the results of the state assembly polls.
Sitharaman said the weapon systems, avionics and other key add-ons to the Rafale aircraft, will be 'much superior' than that negotiated by the UPA.
If the DMK sticks to its position and withdraws from the UPA, one thing is certain: this government will be crisis-ridden and crisis-driven till the next election. The Congress party will run a paralytic government at the dictates of the parties supporting it from outside, says Sheela Bhatt.
Even if the SP doesn't immediately withdraw support, the UPA government will remain helplessly dependent on the SP and the BSP. Withdrawal of support by either could destroy the UPA's paper-thin majority. It will have to do a balancing act between these two rivals on a day-to-day basis, says Praful Bidwai
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday hit out at the government for the recent hike in petrol prices and alleged that this increase is a result of the UPA regime's wrong economic policies and not an outcome of any current global situation.
Modi said that for nearly one and a half years he has been putting in place details of new schemes to give new pace to the country's development and curb poverty.
After attracting criticism on the social media for "taking credit", Khurshid on Sunday said that he had only "stated the truth".
The Congress party's only hope now lies in its desperate wish that an unstable conglomerate of non-BJP, non-Congress parties comes to power with its support and collapses within a couple of years by which time the party hopes to salvage whatever it can from the debris of 10 years of the UPA's incumbency, says Saroj Nagi.
Ahead of the Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday talked to allies, informing them about the intent to withdraw the controversial Ordinance on convicted lawmakers.
A meeting of the United Progressive Alliance coordination committee is being held on Thursday against the backdrop of the political crisis in Maharashtra that has seen cracks widen in the ruling Congress-NCP coalition in the state.
Justice (retd) Chandrashekaraiah's appointment as Karnataka Upa (deputy) Lokayukta was on Friday set aside by the Supreme Court which held that the chief minister had committed an 'error' by not consulting the chief justice of the state high court in the selection process.
'The sense of Constitutional propriety and political morality seems to be vanishing fast.' 'There are many things in today's politics of governance which Manmohan Singh would have never dreamt of saying or doing.'
'The government must give up its neo-liberal polices and obsession with GDP growth and shift its ideological centre of gravity leftwards.'
With Tamil Nadu reeling under acute power shortage, Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Friday squarely blamed the Congress-led UPA and her arch rival Dravida Munettra Kazhagam for the crisis but said load-shedding would gradually ease from next month and the state will be free of power cuts from end 2013.
Pledging to take corruption head on, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance on Sunday night promised to punish the guilty in scams and assured the people that it would demonstrate through actions and not words what it meant.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday sought public views on the 'charge sheet' it intends to prepare in seeking to corner the UPA government over its "failure" on several fronts and to highlight the scams unearthed during the present regime.
Describing China as the biggest threat to the country, Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav slammed the United Progressive Alliance for being a "silent spectator" to alleged Chinese encroachment of Indian territory.
'What should surprise BJP supporters is Modi's call for 'stability' at the manifesto launch, a theme that he and his team members had not touched ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in 2014 and 2019.' 'The last time the party called for 'stability at the Centre' was in 1998 and 1999,' recalls N Sathiya Moorthy.
Notwithstanding the bitter ties between Left parties and the Congress, the RJD today claimed that the CPI(M) would be "compelled" to join ranks with UPA to keep communal forces at bay.
Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Monday said the high growth that Indian economy has logged in the first quarter of the current fiscal was on account of the UPA policies and the new government must give it the due credit.
Almost without exception, all ministers from non-Congress coalition partners of the UPA have been behaving as though they are a law unto themselves.
Sticking to its demand for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's resignation for the irregularities in coal block allocation, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday termed the United Progressive Alliance government as the "most corrupt" and demanded cancellation of 142 allocated coal blocks. "There is no doubt that this UPA government is the most corrupt government of all times. Earlier, the Bofors scam was considered the biggest, in which Rs 64 crore was taken as bribe," he said.
While two Team Anna members targetted United Progressive Alliance Presidential nominee Pranab Mukherjee and demanding a probe into allegations against him, anti-graft crusader Anna Hazare on Monday appeared to endorse his candidature for the top post terming him as "better than other UPA ministers".
Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati on Wednesday kept up the suspense on continuance of outside support to the United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre, saying a decision on the issue will be taken soon. She also asked party cadres to be ready for snap polls which "can take place any time" in view of the "instability" at the Centre.
As Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav offered a prop to beleaguered UPA after Trinamool Congress walked out of the ruling coalition, Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday said it has no intention of toppling the government and will "wait and watch".
His statement came hours after five of his party ministers in Andhra Pradesh resigned from the Congress-led government.
As Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh threatened withdrawal of support to the UPA government over the Jamia Nagar encounter, party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav on Tuesday said the support was extended in the national interest and there was no question of its withdrawal.
Despite the missive on the impact of foreign retail on the small kirana shops in the country written by Congress President Sonia Gandhi to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, everyone in the government knows that it was never to be taken seriously.
Alleging that the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government's mindset has led to "decay" of key institutions including Parliament, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday said it poses a serious issue before the next Lok Sabha as it is threatening the survival of democracy in the country.
The Left parties' unhappiness over the functioning of the United Progressive Alliance government and especially its economic policies came to the fore on Monday with the Revolutionary Socialist Party deciding to withdraw from the UPA-Left coordination committee.
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.
At the end of UPA-2's three years in power, India has become a more unbalanced, strife-torn and unhappy society, with reduced human security and tattered social cohesion. Rather than correct policy course, the government deals with the resulting discontent with brute force, says Praful Bidwai
As United Progressive Alliance completes three years in office, opposition Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday claimed the government may fall anytime as coalition partners were unhappy and were not even ready to break bread together.
