Addressing the issue of drought and price rise, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh admitted on Saturday that agriculture operations in the country have got adversely affected due to lack of monsoon.
While discussing the issue with state chief secretaries, he asked the state governments to immediately start relief operation, if needed.
Acoording to media reports, the Prime Minister said that the government will not allow any citizen to go hungry.
So far, eight states have been declared drought hit due to scanty rain this monsoon. Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Jharkhand and Assam were declared drought-hit.

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday told the Rajya Sabha that the government had initiated action to bring back unaccounted money stashed away in banks abroad.
In a brief response to a question by Prakash Javadekar of the BJP on the Congress promise during the election campaign to get back the money within 100 days, Dr. Singh said that “action has already been started” by his government.
Dr. Singh referred to the statement of Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday, while responding to the debate on the Finance Bill. The issue dominated the poll campaign, with both the Congress and the BJP taking a tough stand.
Mr. Mukherjee told the House action was taken within 100 days. The country, he said, was going to accept the code prescribed by the G-8 countries, by which the exchange of information would take place and the legal framework adopted for the avoidance of double taxation.
The Finance Minister said every country had its own set of rules and countries like Switzerland had their own banking secrecy rules. However, in the context of the financial crisis, Switzerland had agreed to share information provided there was a legal framework and proof that such information was needed for tax collection and not for any other purpose.
“Therefore, action to bring back the money, which has been stashed away, is also being taken,” the Minister said.

New Delhi, May 30 : A day after all members of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s council of ministers got their portfolios, many attended office Friday to familiarise themselves with their ministries while those who retained their old jobs reviewed their unfinished agenda.

The 78-member three-tier ministry, which Manmohan Singh described as a mix of energy and experience, has been asked to set benchmarks. United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi stressed that everyone would be judged by their performance.

Vayalar Ravi, who retains charge of the overseas Indian affairs ministry, got to business straight away, saying his immediate task was to protect the Indians in Australia after a spate of allegedly racial attacks this week.

He said the government was seriously considering “an institutionalised mechanism” to prevent racist attacks on Indians abroad.

“The government has taken the matter seriously. My immediate task is to ensure the safety of Indians there. I have asked for a report from the Indian High Commission in Australia,” said Ravi.

Murli Deora, who retains the petroleum and natural gas ministry, announced a new scheme for distribution of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in villages.

Kamal Nath, who now heads the ministry of road transport and highways, said regulations covering India’s road network will be overhauled and promised to change the physical landscape of the country’s transport infrastructure.

“We need to look at the old regulatory framework in an entirely new way and that will call for a complete change of mindset. We are looking at new models,” Kamal Nath said.

DMK leader T.R. Baalu’s leadership of the ministry earlier had come under widespread criticism.

“Policies cannot be measured - there can be a number of policies,” said Kamal Nath, the former commerce and industry minister. “But roads and highways can be physically measured. This is a major infrastructure area. Results will be seen… I have been given a challenging task.”

Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma, promoted to the cabinet, said India will maintain its exports at $160 billion for the current fiscal and unveil steps in the coming budget to help the sector.

“This is a challenging responsibility and I will benefit from my earlier experience. Economic diplomacy is part of global engagement,” said Sharma, formerly a minister of state in the external affairs ministry.

Sharma said India was ready to sign a host of agreements including a free trade pact with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and economic cooperation pacts with South Korea and Nepal.

The minister said the country’s export performance was laudable given that the global economy had shrunk since last year. “I am confident we will be able to manage at least $160 billion.”

Kapil Sibal, the cabinet minister in charge of human resource development
, told reporters: “I want to put in place a system where every child and person can have access to resources and education.”

Former UN diplomat and writer Shashi Tharoor, appointed the minister of state in the ministry of external affairs, said he would work to strengthen India’s global stature.

“India’s place in the world is of great importance. India has had an honoured place in the world. I wish to make my own contribution to strengthening that very honoured place.”

Preneet Kaur, also a minister of state in the same ministry, said India wanted peace with neighbours but it would never tolerate terrorism.

“We always want good relations with neighbours but the one thing we will not tolerate is terrorism and sheltering of terrorists,” she asserted.

Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said India would focus on developing new vaccines to fight new diseases.

National Conference patron Farooq Abdullah, who heads the new and renewable energy ministry, said his biggest challenge was to tap “new energy”.

NEW DELHI, India -- Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh appeared set for a second term as his Congress party and its allies scored a decisive lead over their opponents on Saturday in a vote count after the country's monthlong general elections.

Congress supporters in Banglaore Saturday celebrate the party's lead in election results.

The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance surged ahead in more than 255 of the 543 federal parliamentary boroughs, outpacing the main opposition composed of a grouping led by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party (BJP).

BJP leader Arun Jaitley conceded defeat, stating that the ruling party will win the election.

"We respect this mandate and accept it," Jaitley said.

India's communists, who last year parted ways with the federal government for its civilian nuclear cooperation agreement with the United States, also suffered a massive blow in their stronghold state of West Bengal as they trailed their rivals in more than half of its boroughs.

Singh drove down to the home of Sonia Gandhi, the Italian-born head of the Congress party, after trends gave out a clear mandate in favor of the ruling coalition.

Standing beside Gandhi, who once again endorsed the choice of Singh for her party's top job, he thanked voters for their support.

He vowed to maintain a stable government that he said would remain committed to secular values. Singh also remarked that he would like Rahul Gandhi, son of his party chief, to become a member of his new Cabinet.

Deepak Sandhu, the prime minister's spokeswoman, told CNN that Singh is expected to hold a meeting of his current Cabinet on Monday.

The prime minister, whose coalition may need some extra backing to be able to reclaim power with a majority of 272 lawmakers on its side, threw up an invitation to all secular parties to come and support his government.

The fifth and final phase of India's marathon general election to choose a federal government ended Wednesday.

Most of the results of the will be out by the end of the day, election officials said.

India is home to about 714 million voters. About 100 million voters registered for Wednesday's polling.

Dumurjola, May 1 : In a stinging attack on Left parties, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday said their policies are "retrograde" and "lack far-sightedness" and contended that their withdrawal of support to the UPA government last year indirectly helped BJP.

Addressing a public meeting here in Howrah district, Singh accused the Left parties of spreading wrong information on Indo-US nuclear deal and termed their withdrawal of support on the issue as a "mistake".

He said the Left has "committed many mistakes. It withdrew support to UPA government on the nuclear deal which indirectly helped the BJP."

Singh, who was addressing his first election meeting in West Bengal, said "The Left wrongly claimed that we pursued pro-American interest while clinching the N-deal. This is not true ... We signed the agreement to augment country's energy requirements ... and this was informed to countrymen by the UPA government."

Sharing dais with Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, the Prime Minister said Left had not changed its thinking with the passage of time. "The CPI(M)'s stand is retrograde and they lack farsightedness... They should change their outlook right now."

The Left, the Prime Minister said, has been consistently misinterpreting the nuclear agreement. They had also opposed the Green Revolution, he said.

"The nuclear agreement is in national interest. We understand that if nuclear energy cannot be generated at an appropriate price, the country's development will cease to take place," Singh said, adding "the CPI(M) is misleading the people on the agreement."

He said the "nuclear agreement is an issue where Left policy will be proved wrong in future and the Left will also realise it. I advise the Left parties to change their outlook."

Singh alleged that the CPI(M) had joined hands with the BJP on the nuclear issue in the Lok Sabha and its position was to oppose economic and foreign policies.

He also attacked the CPI(M) for its efforts to push the Third Front. "CPI(M) is helping the BJP politically with its initiative for a Third Front, which will only divide secular votes," he said.

The Prime Minister said the Left are dividing secular votes "which is helping the BJP."

On the electoral prospects of Third Front, he said "there is no possibility" of it coming to power at the Centre "as the constituent parties have no common programme ... They are only working to oppose us on every issue."

The Prime Minister also slammed the Left Front government of West Bengal, saying its policies had led to "under-development" of the state.

He said the "Congress had recently prepared a report on West Bengal government's 30-year tenure. It revealed that how due to the state government's wrong policies, West Bengal has remained underdeveloped. I fully agree with the report card."

Jodhpur, April 29: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said that only the Congress Party was equipped to tackle recession and terrorism.

"In this time of economic recession, you need a government who has the experience to tackle with such situations. Because of the UPA Government's policies, recession has not affected India as much as to other countries. Only the Congress Government has the ability and experience to deal with economic recession," Singh said in a rally here on Tuesday.

Dr. Singh further added that coordination was required between all states of the country and other countries to combat terrorism.

"Coordination is required between all the states of our country and between all other countries of the world to deal with terrorism. Support of international diplomacy is also required to deal with various issues related with terrorism. I believe only the Congress Government can deal with all these matters efficiently," Singh added.

The Prime Minister also said that it was the Congress Party that stepped up diplomatic pressure to deal with the perpetrators of last year's Mumbai terror attacks.

Bikaner, Apr 28 : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today sought people's votes for Congress in the impending Lok Sabha polls in the name of UPA's capabilities and expertise in dealing with economic slowdown, menace of terrorism and implementing pro-poor agenda.

Addressing a congregation at the Karni Grounds here this afternoon Dr Singh reminded the people that his government during its five year term in the office had exhibited well its expertise in dealing with economic issues including global meltdown and succeeded in keeping the fallouts of the global phenomenon on Indian economy at its minimal.

Dr Singh also expressed satisfaction over his government's handling of the menace of terrorism and said that Congress led political formation was experienced and efficient enough to deal with terrorism and to establish India's stand at international fora.

The Prime Minister said " The country is required to maintain its pace of development and economic growth and to tackle the problems effectively,'' and added. The ruling Congress and his government was capable enough to deal with the problems of poverty, malnutrition, unemployment and price rise".

UPA Government's welfare programmes like NREGS and farmers loan waiver had made good impact on the people's economic status and evoked good response from everywhere, he said.

He sought people's votes for another term in the office saying "the ongoing process of development should go on uninterrupted and I assure you that Congress will ensure to do so".

Guwahati, Apr 27 : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday rejected Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad's charge that the Congress too was to blame for Babri Masjid, saying the BJP was solely responsible for the 1992 mosque demolition.

Addressing a press conference in Amin Gaon in Guwahati, the prime minister also said he would prefer to put an end to the slanging match with Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) prime ministerial candidate L.K. Advani.

"We can't be blamed," the prime minister said replying to a question on his reaction to Lalu Prasad's remark on the Babri razing. He said that the then BJP chief minister of Uttar Pradesh Kalyan Singh "did what he did" despite his affidavit to the apex court that he will protect the 16th century disputed structure.

"It is known to everybody that then BJP chief minister Kalyan Singh gave a solid assurance to the Supreme Court and after that he did what he did. The Congress party certainly cannot be blamed because it believed that Kalyan Singh would honour the affidavit given to the Supreme Court?.

"But he didn't honour it and that is the only fault you can find with the Congress party with regard to the demolition of the Babri Masjid," the prime minister said.

Lalu Prasad, the railways minister, had said in Bihar that the Congress was also to blame for the demolition as it did nothing to prevent it, despite being in power at the centre then.

Signalling an end to his slugfest with Advani, who has repeatedly called him a "weak prime minister", Manmohan Singh, replying to a journalist's query, said: "I don't want to prolong the match and the dialogue? whatever I had to say I have said already".

Speaking on terrorism, he said: "Communalism, terrorism, and Naxalism (Maoism), is today a big threat to the country's unity and integrity, but we are committed to fighting all these evils with a firm hand. To defeat communalism, we all have to vote for the Congress party as we are the only party that stands for secularism."

On the global financial crisis, the prime minister said the meltdown was a result of "financial mismanagement" by developed countries and it would blow over "partially" by September.

"This crisis has arisen due to mishandling of the financial system by the major developed countries," he said.

"We expect the crisis to be partially over by September when we can go back to our growth rate of 8 to 9 percent."

He also said the Congress if voted to power would make a renewed effort to curb militancy and terror.

"I am confident the Congress party and its alliance partners would be able to form the next government at the centre and we shall work for development and fight terrorism with a renewed effort," the prime minister said.

The prime minister, who is a Rajya Sabha member from Assam, was in Guwahati to address an election meeting at Amin Gaon on the outskirts of Assam's main city of Guwahati.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was saved from a shoe, which was flung at him by a man in Ahmedabad. The shoe landed about 20 feet away. The man is identified as Mukesh and has been arrested.

breaking-news-shoe-hurled-at-prime-minister-manmohan-singh

The incident took place here when Manmohan Singh was entering into the Tagore Hall in Paldi locality of the city.

According to the reports, the shoe didn’t reach the Prime Minister. Mukesh Chauhan and was immediately overpowered by security officials and taken away, reports said.

The Prime Minister stopped for a moment during his speech at Tagore Hall in Paldi as one of his Special Protection Group (SPG) personnel ran towards the spot where the shoe had landed.

New Delhi, Apr 24 : With the leaders of the ruling UPA airing divergent views on accepting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as the next PM after the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP today said it was a clear pointer to the 'final collapse' of the UPA.

BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad said the UPA leaders including leaders like Sharad Pawar, Lalu Prasad and Ram Vilas Paswan, who are still in the Cabinet were openly stating that they were searching for an alternative and were not ready to accept the Congress' decision to project Dr Singh as the next Prime Minister.

''The UPA is without a PM candidate and the coalition was merely a post poll arragement of opportunism with the individual leaders pedalling their own cases (for PM's job),'' he remarked. He said there was an air of mutual distrust in the UPA where the Congress was not ready to trust its allies and vice-versa. The Third Front was a front without a declared leader.

He said it was sad and amusing that Priyanka Gandhi, the daughter of Congress president Sonia Gandhi was claiming resemblence of her nose with that of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi as an effort to distract the attention of the people from the burning problems. She was even challenging the declaration of Dr Singh as the Congress's next Prime Ministerial candidate by wanting the PM's job to go to her brother Rahul Gandhi. He said the Congress was not even responding to the BJP's questions raising issues like inablity to check prices of essential commodities, rising unemployment, looming threat from Taliban which was virtually on the doorstep of India. The Congress has now been reduced the entire political and electoral campaign to a soap opera around the first family.

Guwahati: Prime Minister  said here on Sunday that he and his wife Gursharan Kaur would cast their votes in Assam when the State goes to the polls in the second phase on April 23.

He was addressing the press on the sidelines of an election rally at Amingaon, near here.

Dr. Singh did not exercise his choice in the 2004 Lok Sabha polls and the 2006 Assembly polls.

“Yes, I will come here for voting on April 23. My wife will also vote with me,” he said.

Dr. Singh and Ms. Kaur’s names are in the voters list for a polling centre at the Dispur Government Higher Secondary School under the Guwahati Lok Sabha constituency.

The Prime Minister represents the State in the Rajya Sabha. He has been elected to the Upper House from the State four consecutive times since 1991. Dr. Singh has a rented house on the premises of the former Chief Minister, Hiteswar Saikia’s residence at Sarumotoria here.

Guwahati, April 19 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday rejected Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad’s charge that the Congress too was to blame for Babri Masjid, saying the party “can’t be blamed” for the 1992 mosque demolition.

“We can’t be blamed,” the prime minister told a press conference in Amin Gaon in Guwahati ahead of addressing a poll rally.

He also said that the then Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief minister of Uttar Pradesh Kalyan Singh “did what he did” despite his affidavit to the apex court that he will protect the 16th century disputed structure.

“The BJP chief minister Kalyan Singh had then assured the Supreme Court that Babri Masjid would be safe, and the Congress had every reason to believe him,” Manmohan Singh said.

Lalu Prasad, the railways minister, had said in Bihar that the Congress was also to blame for the demolition as it did nothing to prevent it, despite being in power at the centre then.

Manmohan Singh also signalled an end to his slugfest with BJP’s prime ministerial candidate L.K. Advani who has repeatedly called him a “weak prime minister”, saying: “I don’t want to prolong the match and the dialogue.”

Observers were shocked this week when India's normally mild-mannered Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, launched a furious attack on the head of the BJP-led opposition, Lal Krishna Advani. The BBC's Sanjeev Srivastava in Delhi assesses an increasingly rancorous relationship.

Singh (L) and Advani are considered soft-spoken - but not at election time

In my 25 years as a journalist - during which I have reported on eight national elections - it is difficult to recall a precedent for the manner in which the prime minister and the opposition leader have launched their vicious diatribes at each other.
The exchange is all the more surprising because both the leaders have a reputation for being soft spoken, well-mannered and affable.
Mr Advani is in his early eighties with nearly six decades of experience in public life. The Cambridge-educated Manmohan Singh is in his mid-seventies and is known for his scholarly conduct and thinking.
Earlier this week at a public function the two leaders shook hands but did not exchange a word.
Such was the sense of unease and tension in the room that many Indian newspapers commented on the obviously frosty relationship between the country's two top leaders in their front page stories the next day.
Mr Advani only set more tongues wagging when - disregarding convention - he chose not to attend a farewell dinner hosted by the prime minister for the outgoing parliament Speaker.
'Weakest PM'
There's some history to this hostility.
In the 2004 elections the BJP was widely expected to win. It was also believed that at some point the BJP patriarch and the then prime minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, would make way for his deputy, Mr Advani.
The elections however resulted in a shock defeat for the BJP. A bigger surprise was in store for many as Congress President Sonia Gandhi, declined the prime minister's job and offered it to Manmohan Singh instead.
So what should have been Mr Advani's throne - at least in the eyes of his followers - went to Mr Singh by a quirk of fate.

LK Advani's hopes for the top job were dashed in 2004

So almost from the beginning of Mr Singh's tenure the prime minister became a target.
The attacks turned much sharper once Mr Advani was named as the prime ministerial candidate of the BJP.
On every possible occasion Mr Advani targeted Manmohan Singh, calling him the weakest ever prime minister of India.
He said that it was Sonia Gandhi who wielded real power and the prime minister only executed her orders.
On a political note, the charge would not have hurt so much. After all there is no secret about who enjoys real power within the Congress Party. But the accusation was hurled so many times - and each time with more venom - that it ceased to remain business.
'No trust'
Matters came to such a head that the prime minister and the leader of the opposition stopped interacting even in parliament.

I may be not be very strong but at least I was not crying like a wimp in one corner when miscreants were bringing down a mosque Prime Minister Manmohan Singh India's defiant opposition leader

Once, after a particularly prolonged boycott of a parliament session by the opposition, the then vice-president of India who is also the chairman of the upper house, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, told me about the almost complete lack of communication between the leader of the house (the prime minister) and the leader of the opposition.
"How can the parliament function when there is simply no communication - let alone goodwill and trust - between Manmohan Singh and Mr Advani," he remarked in exasperation.
"If the two leaders were on good terms with each other normal business of the house would have resumed after some disruptions."
Each time Mr Advani called the prime minister weak, their personal equation only worsened.
And as the poll dates drew near it became almost a daily affair.
Sometimes the prime minister was referred to as weak and ineffective as many times a day as the BJP leaders opened their mouths.
Little wonder then that the prime minister chose to hit back.
And when he did, the normally shy, soft spoken and reticent Mr Singh struck back with such vengeance that it shocked almost all those who believed that they had an inside track to the prime minister's personality and thinking.
Ayodhya
He chose to target Mr Advani where the opposition leader is most vulnerable.
So Mr Advani - who is desperately trying to broaden his mass base by projecting a moderate, even Muslim-friendly face - was taken to task by the prime minister for shedding crocodile tears when the 16th Century Babri mosque was demolished by a mob of Hindu zealots in 1992.

Mr Singh raised the issue of Ayodhya, which brought India to the brink

"I may be not be very strong but at least I was not crying like a wimp in one corner when miscreants were bringing down a mosque," is how the prime minister referred to the opposition leader in one of his recent press interactions.
The Ayodhya mosque demolition is an emotive issue with Indian Muslims.
Any reminder of Mr Advani's role in the campaign to build a temple to the Hindu God Ram in Ayodhya hampers the efforts of the BJP leader who is trying to seek a more inclusive and secular image for himself.
But what hurt Mr Advani the most was when the prime minister said: "What has been the contribution of Mr Advani to India except bringing down the Babri mosque?"
Manmohan Singh also challenged the BJP's campaign projecting Mr Advani as a strong leader.
"It was in his tenure that the Indian parliament was attacked. What did they do?
"When he [Mr Advani] was the home minister the government handed over terrorists to the Taleban in Kandahar. And the country's foreign minister was sent to oversee the exchange of terrorists with hijacked passengers of an Indian airliner.
"My government does not release terrorists and send our foreign minister when attacked. My government responds with commandos," he said, referring to the attack in Mumbai last year.
The two leaders may well score a political point or two by taking on each other like this. There may be some political gains as well for both of them.
But the slanging match has not really added to the stature of either of the two.
According to observers the two men who hold perhaps the two most important posts in the world's largest democracy should really be setting a better example of public conduct before India's political class.
Sanjeev Srivastava is India editor, BBC Hindi services.

The ongoing war of words between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and BJP Prime Ministerial candidate L K Advani on terrorism was ‘petty’ and should stop, CPI(M) politburo member Brinda Karat said.


"The petty bickering of Manmohan Singh and L K Advani on the issue of terrorism is an insult and added injury to the people of affected states like Assam," she told reporters.
"It would be in the interest of the country that such petty bickering stopped and they work together towards building a strong nation and take action against anti-nationals," Karat said.


Alleging that the "flag of secularism" was not safe in hands of the Congress, she stressed the need for an alternative secular Central government.


"The flag of secularism is not safe in Congress hands because it is compromised with the Hindutva forces. There is total lack of action against organisations involved in the incidents of Malegaon, Hyderabad, Mangalore and Kandamahal," Karat said.

Congress, she said, was resorting to "double standards" in the name of secularism. It knew about the activities of SIMI, but the government has not banned it, she alleged.


"Congress is betraying people in the name of secularism.


Therefore, there is the need for an alternative secular government at the Centre," Karat, a Rajya Sabha member, said.

New Delhi: The effect of the war of words between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Leader of Opposition L K Advani was evident as they came face-to-face in Parliament on Tuesday at a function to commemorate the birth anniversary of B R Ambedkar.

The two leaders shook hands briefly but the warmth was clearly missing as Singh went about his business greeting others and later paying floral tributes to the portrait of Ambedkar.

Singh was seen chatting with Vice President Hamid Ansari with a bemused looking Advani sitting between the two leaders.

Advani has been attacking the Prime Minister calling him a "weak leader" in his campaign speeches for the Lok Sabha elections.

Singh took a swing at Advani saying that the BJP "iron man" was was quick to melt when held to the fire during the Kandahar hijacking incident.

Cong did not do justice to Ambedkar: Advani

BJP's prime ministerial candidate L K Advani said Congress did not do justice to Dalit icon Bhim Rao Ambedkar and ignored the late leader while nominating the members for the Constituent Assembly.

"I believe, Congress did not do justice to Dr Ambedkar," Advani said in a function to celebrate birth anniversary of the Dalit leader in New Delhi.

"Today, we know that he was the maker of the Constitution. But this did not happen naturally. When Congress nominated around 290 members for the Constituent Assembly, his name was not there," Advani said.

Taking on the Congress for the episode, Advani said that when a leader from Bengal saw that his (Ambedkar's) name was not there in the list, he offered his seat.

KOCHI - The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad on Monday called Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh a ‘night watchman’, who was making way for the next PM.

“Manmohan Singh is acting as a night watchman paving way for the member of Nehru-Gandhi family to the Prime Minister seat. He will have to vacate once the Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi gets prepared himself for the post of PM,” Prasad told reporters here.

Prasad blamed the Prime Minister for price rise and unemployment problem.

When asked about the Third Front, the BJP leader said he wondered who actually would be its Prime Minister.

“Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati is contesting against the Communist Party of India- Marxist (CPM) in West Bengal. Mayawati’s party is contesting against Janata Dal- Secular (JD-S) in Karnataka,” he added.

London, March 25  British Premier Gordon Brown has called up Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the runup to the G20 summit in London, and reported back that the Indian leader has made a speedy recovery after his heart operation.

“I had a very good conversation with Prime Minister Singh. I wanted to ensure myself that he had our best wishes that he has recovered from his heart by-pass operation and he seems to be in very good health now and it was very good to be able to talk to him,” Brown told reporters at a briefing in his office Monday.

“He is a very old friend of mine and I enjoy our conversations,” he said.

Asked if he spoke about terrorism in the aftermath of the Mumbai bombings, Brown replied: “We did talk about terrorism and about the problem that India has faced as a result of the Mumbai bombings.

“We have offered whatever help we can to track down those who are responsible and we will help the Indian government in their efforts to combat terrorism. So we will continue to work together with India on these issues.”

Manmohan Singh is set to join other world leaders at the G20 summit in London April 2, a gathering that is expected to come up with an action plan to combat the global economic and financial crisis.

Brown, who is now on a tour of Europe, the US and South America ahead of the summit, said he was “determined to consult as widely as possible.

“We had a seminar meeting with African leaders only a few days ago. I have met all of the European Union members of the Council a few days ago. We have had extensive talks with Premier Wen of China, I have been talking to Prime Minister Singh of India, we are in touch with Japan and with all the members from the Asian countries and I think it is very important that I am in a position also to hear what is said by the Latin American countries that are coming to the summit.

“So this is a test of the world’s ability to work together and it is a test I believe we can pass, but it is a challenge because we are in the most challenging of financial circumstances,” he added.

NEW DELHI - The Manmohan Singh-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government had betrayed the country on foreign policy and backtracked on non-alignment, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Prakash Karat said here Monday.

Lashing out at the UPA government in a speech that touched on a range of issues, Karat said: ‘The biggest betrayal has been on foreign policy. The Manmohan Singh government has turned its back on a non-aligned foreign policy.’

Promising an independent foreign policy, Karat said while releasing the party’s manifesto for the coming Lok Sabha polls: ‘This government claimed shortage of uranium as the prime reason for the nuclear deal. But the CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General) report proves that the country has enough uranium reserves.’

Karat, whose CPI-M withdrew support to the UPA last year over differences on the India-US nuclear deal, warned that the people would have to shell out more to buy electricity from nuclear power plants that the government was planning to import from the US.

Criticising the UPA for its ‘nakedly pro-rich’ policies, Karat said the country needs an ‘alernative secular government’.

‘We have spelled out alternative policies and want the new government to follow them. We need a non-Congress non-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alternative government,’ he said, adding that the party manifesto promises a pro-people economic policy, better deal for the oppressed, including dalits, adivasis and the minority, and a secular government.

‘We place the UPA squarely responsible for this unacceptable growing divide between a handful of rich people and vast masses of our people.’

Referring to the public distribution system (PDS), Karat said the Manmohan Singh-led government had weakened it instead of strengthening it.

According to the CPI-M general secretary, the government had adopted an ‘attitude of hesitation and compromise’ on communal issues. He referred to attacks on minorities in Kandhamal in Orissa and in Karnataka.

‘We know the Congress will claim credit for the NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act). But we were the one who introduced the major important changes in the draft. The draft the Congress was passing was useless,’ said Karat, adding that the changes had been listed in the manifesto.

Surat, Feb 15 : Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said Dr. Manmohan Singh would be his prime ministerial candidate in the upcoming elections.

"I have answered this question many times in the past. My prime ministerial candidate for the coming Lok Sabha elections is Dr. Manmohan Singh," Rahul Gandhi said.

United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi had virtually declared last week that Dr. Singh would be the Prime Minister for another term if the party comes to power again.

Gandhi, who is also in-charge of Youth Congress, said, "I have taken up the role of reviving Youth Congress, attract large number of youths in politics and Congress and involve them in nation building exercise."

On his three-day visit to the State, Gandhi is meeting students, inspecting a recruitment drive of youth Congress and its preparation for polls.

In a reply to a question on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s remark that country needs to be freed from one family rule, Gandhi said, "Modi has many views and he is entitled to have his views."

When asking about his valentine Gandhi said, "I do not believe in Valentine’s Day, at the same time I have no problem with people celebrating it. There should not be one day to show that you care for somebody."