Page 2 - Upa

UPA put 'family first', left India in 'dire straits' in 2014: FM Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday lambasted the previous Congress-led UPA government for its mismanagement of the economy saying the party put "family first" and left the country in "dire straits" in 2014, but it is now lecturing the Modi government on handling the economy. Initiating the debate on the 'White Paper on Indian economy and its impact on the lives of people of India' in the Lok Sabha, Sitharaman said the Modi government put "nation-first", and took the economy from 'fragile five' to 'top five'. India is now on the way to become the third largest global economy, she said. Amid constant bickering by the Congress members, Sitharaman said the White Paper is for record of posterity and the youth should know what efforts Prime Minister Narendra Modi has put in to restore India's past glory. "Ten years of one government with some crisis and 10 years of a different government with a different crisis. The comparison shown in this 'White Paper' clearly says how if th

'Sporadic' vs 'saturated': NDA's dig at UPA govt's 10 years in White Paper

A subtext running through the white paper is that a "coalition of 26 parties" couldn't take crucial decisions, such as rolling out the goods and services tax (GST) regime

Overdependence on external commercial borrowing under UPA: White Paper

The white paper, tabled in Parliament on Thursday, compared the UPA government's two consecutive terms, starting 2004, vis-a-vis the NDA's tenure, beginning 2014

Banking crisis most infamous legacy of UPA government: White Paper

"Worse, even that high percentage of bad debts was an underestimate," the paper said

UPA ruined Indian economy, 'White Paper' to highlight deficiencies: BJP

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Jayant Sinha said on Wednesday that the Indian economy was ruined by the end of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) tenure in 2014, adding that the 'White Paper' likely to be presented by the Centre in Parliament would highlight the deficiencies in each sector that existed at that time.The government announced in the Union Interim Budget presented on February 1 that it would release a 'White Paper' to compare the economic performance of the Congress-led UPA government's 10 years with that of the BJP-led NDA government's 10 years.Speaking to ANI, Jayant Sinha said, "It is necessary that we present before the people that how a change has set in into the economy. There were deficiencies in every sector. If the economy is shining today and going ahead rapidly, it is due to our policies & work in these 10 years."Highlighting the economic mismanagement by Congress and the UPA during its tenure, Jayant Sinha, who was also the Minister of State (MoS) ...

White elephant just before the elections: RJD MP Manoj Jha on white paper

This is the last session of the current Lok Sabha before the general elections expected to be held in April-May this year

Gujarat govt paid Rs 8,200 cr in excess to Adani Power, says Congress

The Congress on Tuesday alleged the Gujarat government has paid Rs 8,200 crore in excess to Adani Power towards electricity purchase charges in two years which it dubbed "favouritism", a claim dismissed by the power minister who cited the rise in coal purchase cost. The Congress also demanded that the government recover the "additional Rs 8,265 crore" from Adani and invest it in increasing the capacity of state-run power generators. During Question Hour of the budget session of the Assembly, Congress MLA Tushar Chaudhary sought to know the rates at which the government purchased electricity from Adani Power Ltd during 2022 and 2023. In his reply, Power Minister Kanubhai Desai said electricity is purchased as per the "merit order" system which was introduced by the former Congress-led UPA government. "The state government had entered into an agreement with Adani Power in 2007 to purchase power at Rs 2.89 per unit under bid-1 and at Rs 2.35 per unit under bid-2 for 25 years. Such pow

Fiscal deficit was 4.5% in UPA's terminal year, says P Chidambaram

Noting that much has been made of the fiscal correction made by the government, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Sunday said the fiscal deficit was 4.5 per cent in the UPA's terminal year 2013-14 while it is 5.8 per cent under the NDA in 2023-24. The former finance minister asserted that there is no place for a "bullhorn" in economics. In a post on X, Chidambaram said much has been made of the fiscal correction made by the NDA government and the fiscal deficit of 5.8 per cent in 2023-24. "Since memories are short, I may jog the memories of the learned commentators. Under the UPA, the Fiscal Deficit in 2007-08 was 2.5 per cent. In the terminal year of UPA (2013-14) the Fiscal Deficit was 4.5 per cent. In the terminal year of NDA (2023-24) the Fiscal Deficit is 5.8 per cent," he said. There will be ups and downs in any regime, the Congress leader noted. "If the NDA points to the pandemic years (2020-21 & 2021-22), the UPA can point to the years of the International Financial

INDIA bloc on verge of collapse, Cong insulted Nitish Kumar: K C Tyagi

Janata Dal (United)'s political adviser and spokesperson K C Tyagi on Saturday made it all but clear that the grand alliance government in Bihar is on the verge of collapse and accused a section of the Congress leadership of repeatedly "insulting" Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. "The INDIA bloc is on the verge of collapse. The alliance of INDIA bloc parties is almost over in Punjab, West Bengal and Bihar," he told reporters. The goal and intentions with which Kumar, the JD(U) president, succeeded in bringing non-Congress parties with the Congress have come unstuck, Tyagi said, asserting that their leader was "misunderstood". Kumar never hankered after a position in the alliance but a section of the Congress leadership repeatedly insulted him, he said. Tyagi said he could not see as to how the INDIA bloc parties could fight the "all-powerful" BJP. The Bihar chief minister succeeded in bringing together several parties in Patna but the entire process became so limp that the INDIA bloc

India faced terror attacks, infiltration under Cong regime, says UP CM

India faced terror attacks and infiltration of terrorists under the Congress-led UPA regime, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday said, adding the country's stature has now increased on the world stage under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A day after he said that Hyderabad should be made 'Bhagyanagar' changing its destiny for the better, Adityanath said Mahabubnagar should be re-established as Palamuru. Mahabubnagar is also known as Palamuru. Addressing rallies in poll-bound Telangana's Mahabubnagar district and corner meetings in Quthbullapur and L B Nagar in the city, he said the country's borders have been secured under PM Modi's leadership. He recalled that terrorists carried out India's worst terror strike on Mumbai on this day (on November 26, 2008) when the Congress-led UPA government was in power at the Centre. "There were terror attacks and infiltration of terrorists during the Congress regime, but today terror attacks and infiltration of terrorists cannot

In contrast to UPA years, NER's economy has seen gradual growth in NDA rule

Shifting focus to population, the NER housed 45.5 million individuals, accounting for 3.7 per cent of the country's total population of 1.21 billion, according to the 2011 Census

From Manipur to Kashmir: Key highlights of Amit Shah's speech in Parliament

The no confidence motion is one such motion where neither the people nor the House has disbelief in the government, says Union Home Minister Amit Shah

Oppn unity meet underway in Bengaluru, UPA likely to get new name

NCP leader Sharad Pawar on Tuesday joined the opposition unity meeting here which will hold deliberations on giving the grouping of 26 opposition parties a name, structure and common agenda to take on the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. While the first day of the meeting saw informal discussions followed by a dinner meeting, Tuesday will see formal deliberations. All political parties were asked at the dinner meeting on Monday night to suggest names for the alliance and the same would be discussed and consensus would be arrived at during the deliberations. Sources said the parties are also likely to issue a joint declaration and finalise a committee for the functioning of the grouping. Sources say the name of Sonia Gandhi as chairperson of the new grouping is also suggested. Sonia Gandhi was the chairperson of UPA 1 and 2, which remained in government from 2004 to 2014. They will also announce two sub-committees one for finalising the common minimum programme along with communica

UPA-3 'very much possible' in 2024, Oppn must be ready to fight BJP: Sibal

Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Sunday said a UPA-3 government coming to power in 2024 is very much possible provided the Opposition parties have a commonality of purpose, an agenda reflecting it and are ready for give and take when fielding candidates to take on the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls. Sibal, a prominent Opposition voice and a former Congress leader, also said that instead of a common minimum programme, the Opposition parties should talk about a "new vision for India". His remarks come days before a crucial meeting of Opposition parties, hosted by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in Patna on June 23, where top Opposition leaders such as Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former AICC chief Rahul Gandhi, TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal, among others, are set to deliberate on the way forward for forming an anti-BJP coalition for the Lok Sabha polls next year. In an interview with PTI, Sibal said the Congress' win in Karnataka assembly polls was an

Naxal violence dropped by 70% under Modi govt, was on rise during UPA: BJP

Former Union minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Hansraj Ahir on Sunday claimed that the Narendra Modi government has tackled the Naxal menace in an effective manner and brought down the incidents of Maoist violence by 70 per cent as compared to the UPA rule. Highlighting the Modi government's achievements in the last nine years of its rule during the launch of the 'Modi@9 Maha Jansampark Abhiyan' campaign in Chandrapur district, Ahir, who is the convener of the drive, also said that Naxalism was on the rise during the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. "A total of 2,213 incidents of violence involving Naxalites were recorded during the UPA government till 2010 (from 2004), while the BJP dispensation brought down the number to 509 till 2021 (from 2014), a reduction of 70 per cent. As many as 1,005 civilians were killed by Naxalites during the UPA rule in six years till 2010, while this number was 147 during the Modi government till 2021, a decline of 85

'Morgan Stanley study on change under Modi indictment of UPA's lost decade'

Morgan Stanley's report on how India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has transformed and gained a position in the world order in less than a decade is the "best and sharpest indictment" of the Congress-led UPA's "lost decade between 2004 and 2014", Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Wednesday. Speaking to PTI, he said the report reminds Indians how the Congress-led UPA had in 2014 left "a shattered economy". Nine years later, India has emerged as one of the fastest-growing economies in the world with record FDI, the minister said. "This report that says how India is transformed in less than a decade under Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in my opinion the best and sharpest indictment of the UPA's lost decade between 2004 and 2014," he said. In the report, Morgan Stanley said significant scepticism about India, particularly with overseas investors, ignores the significant changes that have taken place in India, especially since 2014. Rejecting criticism that India has not

Drugs caught off Kerala worth more than cumulative value under UPA: Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said the value of recent drug seizure off the Kerala coast was more than the cumulative value of narcotics seized during the ten-year rule of Congress-led UPA government at the Centre before the BJP came to power in 2014. He also said the lapses in coastal security led to the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack. Shah made these comments while laying the foundation stone for the permanent campus of the National Academy of Coastal Policing (NACP) at Okha in Gujarat's Devbhumi Dwarka district. "The Indian Navy and Coast Guard caught drugs worth Rs 12,000 crore off the Kerala coast recently. This is more than what was caught in an entire year in the past. During ten years of UPA, narcotics worth Rs 680 crore were seized. And we have caught drugs worth Rs 12,000 crore in one instance. It proves that the security scenario has improved," the home minister said. Nearly 2,500 kg of methamphetamine worth around Rs 12,000 crore was seized from a vessel in Indi

During UPA regime, CBI was 'putting pressure' on me to 'frame' Modi: Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said the CBI was "putting pressure" on him to "frame" Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a alleged fake encounter case in Gujarat when he was being questioned by the probe agency during the Congress-led UPA government. Shah said this at the 'News 18 Rising India' programme here in response to a question on Opposition's charge that the Narendra Modi government is "misusing' central agencies to target them. The CBI "was putting pressure" on me to "frame Modi ji" (when he was Gujarat CM) in an alleged fake encounter case during the Congress government," he said, adding that the BJP never raised a ruckus despite this. On Rahul Gandhi's conviction in a criminal defamation case by a court in Surat, the home minister said the Congress leader was not the only politician who was convicted by a court and lost membership of the legislature. Instead of moving to a higher court, Rahul has been trying to create hue and cry and blaming Prime Minister Narend

CBI working impartially; most cases being probed reported during UPA: Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday asserted that probe agencies like the CBI and the ED have been working impartially and except two, all cases they were investigating had been registered during the UPA government. Participating in the India Today Conclave here, Shah said whatever the investigating agencies were doing could be challenged in courts. In 2017, during Uttar Pradesh polls, a big woman leader of Congress had said if they were indulging in corruption, why there was no investigation. She was questioning us. Now they are creating a hue and cry when there has been action, he said. The home minister said these investigating agencies are not above the court and any notice, FIR and chargesheet can be challenged in the courts. Instead of going to the court, why are they shouting outside. I want to ask the people if there is any corruption allegation against anyone, should not there be a probe. All these cases, except two, were registered during their rule. Not during our ..

A closer look at 'quiet diplomacy'

At a broader level Rahul Roy Chaudhary extols the UPA's role in projecting India as a significant player in a multipolar world, away from being perceived as a peripheral actor in the Asia-Pacific