Mulayam Singh Yadav

UPA II‘s key ally Mulayam Singh Yadav has joined hands with left parties in writing to PM Manmohan Singh, asking him not to operationalise FDI in multi-brand retail.

UPA candidate Pranab Mukherjee is all set to be elected the 14th President of India tomorrow when the counting of votes will take place.

The Election Commission today rejected Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav's vote in the Presidential poll and directed the Returning Officer (RO) not to count it as the secrecy of the ballot had been violated.

Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav made a blunder on Thursday and voted for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Presidential nominee PA Sangma 'by mistake' as polling was underway for the Presidential elections.

Amid a show of strength, UPA nominee Pranab Mukherjee today filed his nomination papers for the July 19 Presidential elections in the presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and a host of leaders.

The BJP core group will meet this evening to discuss the Presidential election and decide its future course of action in the wake of Congress declaring Pranab Mukherjee as its candidate.

The race to the President office on Thursday witnessed lots of politics and speculation, but no decisions appeared in sight. A day after the royal snub by Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee along with Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, the Congress worked on all fronts to isolate the West Bengal Chief Minister.

Even as sources indicated differences between Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Samajwadi Party Mulayam Singh Yadav, it appears that former President APJ Abdul Kalam remains the top choice for the Presidential candidate.

In a continuing war of words, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Thursday dared UPA chief Sonia Gandhi to drop her party from the alliance. Refuting Congress' allegations of a breach of decorum, Mamata claimed that she is still part of the UPA but the Congress can ask her to leave if the party wants to.

The ruling Congress party was in turmoil on Thursday after two key allies signalled they had lost confidence in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, whose fragile coalition government has struggled to cope with mounting economic problems.

The race for the President's post is getting more complicated every minute with many new names being proposed by different political parties. It now seems that the Congress is strategising to checkmate the Mamata Banerjee-Mulayam Singh Yadav duo by going in for Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's candidature for the President's post.

West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav have shown that no major decision can be taken without them. They stumped the Congress on Wednesday by rejecting party President Sonia Gandhi's choices for the Presidential candidate.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday arrived in New Delhi amid reports that the Trinamool Congress had agreed to back Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee as the presidential candidate.

Samajwadi Party, whose support would be crucial for election of the next President, today kept on the suspense over its stand but gave a clear message to UPA that its support should not be taken for granted.

Is the Congress readying itself to dump Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Bannerjee and get Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav to replace her as an ally? The Samajwadi Party chief was the star of UPA-II's third anniversary dinner.

Apprehending early general elections, Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav today asked Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav to implement the party manifesto and bring visible changes within six months.

The Samajwadi Party today sought removal of Montek Singh Ahluwalia from the post of Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission for the panel's fresh poverty estimates.

Akhilesh Yadav, whose campaign helped steered the Samajwadi Party gain an absolute majority in the elections, was today sworn in as the youngest Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh but a surprise inclusion in his Cabinet was the controversial MLA Raja Bhaiya.

Samajwadi Party leader and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister designate Akhilesh Yadav today said his party has no plans to bring down the UPA government at the Centre and that his party's support to the Congress-led dispensation will continue.

Law and order will be the priority of the new SP government in Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister- designate Akhilesh Yadav said.