Ajit Singh all geared up for a UPA stint?

Had hush-hush meet with Pranab, wants commerce ministry

GN Bureau | April 5, 2010


File photo of Ajit Singh
File photo of Ajit Singh

Will Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Ajit Singh join the UPA government? He has had hush-hush parleys with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. Those in the know say that he wants commerce ministry while the Congress is offering him the non-conventional energy ministry.

Mukherjee last week spent two hours with Ajit Singh to convince him to join the government. Ajit Singh has five MPs in Lok Sabha and the alliance, if it comes through, will help the Congress in Uttar Pradesh assembly elections next year. It will also send a signal to the allies like NCP to keep a low profile.

Hectic political activities have begun ahead of the second half of the budget session beginning on April 15.

It was in February, when the opposition had united on the price rise that the Core Committee of the Congress authourised Mukherjee to work out a formula with Ajit Singh.

Ajit Singh can help the Congress in the long run. With the support of the Rashtriya Lok Dal MLAs in UP, the Congress might field Captain Satish Sharma as a Rajya Sabha canidate. He can also help in making a dent in pockets where Mayawati is strong.

Comments

 

Other News

Voter turnout: Drop from 2019 reduces further

As the voting percentages dropped drastically in the first couple of phases of the ongoing general elections, observers and analysts spoke of ‘voter apathy’ blamed it on a lack of “wave” this time – apart from the heatwave, that is. The latest figures after the fourth phase, h

GAIL reports annual revenue of Rs.1,30,638 crore

GAIL (INDIA) Limited has reported 75% increase in Profit before Tax (PBT) of Rs.11,555 crore in FY24,  as against Rs 6,584 Cr in FY23. Profit after Tax (PAT) in FY24 stands at Rs. 8,836 Cr as against Rs.5,302 Cr in FY23, a 67 % increase. However, revenue from operations registered a fa

Women move forward, one step at a time

“Women’s rights are not a privilege but a fundamental aspect of human rights.” —Savitribai Phule In India, where almost two-thirds of the population resides in rural areas, women’s empowerment initiatives are extremely critical for intensifying l

Why you should vote

What are the direct tangible benefits that you want from the government coming in power? The manifestos of various parties set a host of agendas which many times falls back in materialising the intended gains. Governance failures, policy lapses, implementation gaps, leadership crisis and cultural blockages

How the role of Ayurveda evolved pre- and post-independence

Ayurveda, Nation and Society: United Provinces, c. 1890–1950 By Saurav Kumar Rai Orient BlackSwan, 292 pages, Rs 1,400  

General Elections: Phase 4 voting on in 96 seats

As many as 17.7 crore electors are eligible to vote in the fourth phase of general elections taking place on Monday in 10 states/UTs. 175 Legislative Assembly seats of Andhra Pradesh and 28 Legislative Assembly seats of Odisha are also going to polls in this phase. Polling time in select as

Visionary Talk: Amitabh Gupta, Pune Police Commissioner with Kailashnath Adhikari, MD, Governance Now


Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter