New Delhi: As Congress-led United Progressive Alliance completes four years in office on May 22, what is the mood in urban India? In a 12-city poll conducted by CNN-IBN in age group of 18 years or more, the verdict is emphatic and overwhelmingly against the current regime. The poll reveals that UPA government has lost credibility and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh no longer enjoys confidence of urban India.
An overwhelming 61 per cent of those polled said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should be replaced as prime minister while only 37 per cent said they were in favour of him continuing in the post. A meagre two per cent could not decide.
When asked out the UPA rule, 67 per cent said that the government has lost its credibility while only 31 per cent felt the UPA is still better than other options available.
But a majority of those polled stand by Manmohan Singh's integrity with 40 per cent people believing that the Prime Minister is an honest man, 33 per cent believe he wasn't while 24 per cent said his perception of honesty has come down in the past one year....
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08:05 PM, May 21, 2013
Patna: Amid sparring between ruling NDA partners in Bihar, the BJP on Monday said Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was duty-bound to strengthen the alliance as he has been an anti-Congress leader all his life. "Having been an anti-Congress leader during his entire public life, Nitish Kumar too has responsibility to strengthen NDA," BJP national vice-president and Rajya Sabha MP Prabhat Jha said. He expressed confidence that strains between BJP and...
05:46 PM, May 20, 2013
Patna: A ruling JD(U) legislator in Bihar on Monday filed a criminal defamation suit against RJD President Lalu Prasad for allegedly using unparliamentary language against him. JD(U) Legislative Council member Sanjay Singh filed the criminal defamation suit against the Rashtriya Janata Dal president in the court of Chief Judical Magistrate RK Yadav. It was admitted and listed for hearing on Tuesday. Singh has alleged that Prasad had made a derogatory...
12:55 PM, May 20, 2013
Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar defended on Thursday his repeated demand for special status to the state saying it (the status) will boost private investment in a big way to accelerate its industrial development. "I am pushing for grant of special status to Bihar only to bring private investment in a big way to expedite industrialisation process for generation of employment opportunities," he said in a function at Pataliputra...
12:20 AM, May 17, 2013
Ahmedabad: Asserting that NDA allies have no veto power on BJP's choice of prime ministerial candidate, party leader Ravi Shankar Prasad on Wednesday said even Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had acknowledged in the past that the nominee will be from the saffron party. "BJP is part of NDA and we respect all our allies. But one thing is clear that the prime ministerial candidate will be of BJP and...
02:06 AM, May 16, 2013
Patna: With his visit to Congress office with Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram triggering speculations of JD(U) getting closer to Congress, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday downplayed the incident saying he was just being a good host. "I just played a good host to a guest (Chidambaram) who had come to Bihar on Saturday," Kumar, who dropped Chidambaram at the gate of state Congress headquarters 'Sadaquat Ashram' in...
08:16 PM, May 13, 2013
Patna: With UPA-II having six ministers in the Railways during the present tenure, RJD president Lalu Prasad on Monday took a jibe saying since he left Railways his successors were getting "derailed". "After I left Rail Ministry, none of my successors have been able to stay there...everybody is getting derailed in the ministry," Lalu, who served as a rail minister in UPA-I, told reporters. Lalu was commenting on resignation of...
07:56 PM, May 13, 2013
Patna: Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar on Friday night hailed the resignations of Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal and Union Law Minister Aswani Kumar but said it came too late. "It came too late," Kumar said when asked for reaction on resignations of Rail minister Bansal and Law minister Kumar. Bansal resigned on Friday night following a directive from the Congress leadership as the government's image continued...
12:27 AM, May 11, 2013
Gaya: Highlighting initiatives undertaken by his government, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday said the pace of progress could be understood from the almost ten-fold increase in funds spent on development in the state. "Prior to the NDA rule not even Rs 3,000 crore were spent on developmental works in Bihar. The amount has now risen to Rs 26,000 crore in fiscal 2012-13," Kumar said in Gaya. He said...
12:43 AM, May 09, 2013
Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said that his party JD(U) will take a final decision on the NDA's prime ministerial candidate at the appropriate time. "There is no question of exercising veto ... JD(U) has made its views very clear," Kumar told reporters after a 'Janata ke darbar mein Mukhya Mantri' programme in an apparent reference to state deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi's recent comment that none could...
10:27 AM, May 07, 2013
Patna: The RJD on Monday demanded a high level inquiry into the Friday night's accident of party chief Lalu Prasad and accused the Bihar government for neglecting security of the former state chief minister. "Prasad enjoys Z Plus security net. Despite this he was not given any police escort though the DM and SP of Vaishali were given prior intimation of his visit to the district," Leader of Opposition in...
11:50 PM, May 06, 2013
Patna: The Bihar capital city's dream of a Metro train may come true by 2016 if the state urban development minister is to be believed. The project is set to cover a distance of 40-km stretch at a cost of Rs 8,000 crore, Urban Development Minister Prem Kumar said. Rail India Technical and Economic Service (RITES) will conduct survey for the construction of the Metro rail in Patna, he said...
06:08 PM, May 05, 2013
Kushinagar: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday termed the death of Sarabjit Singh in Pakistan as "unfortunate" and said that he was not brought to India for treatment because of certain circumstances. Nitish was in Kushinagar to pay tributes at the "mahaparinirvan" temple of Bhagwan Budha on Thursday morning. Arriving as per the schedule by a special helicopter at 7:30 on Thursday morning to a rousing reception by his...
05:46 PM, May 02, 2013
Mumbai: Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday said that BJP-led NDA should declare its Prime Ministerial candidate only after consulting all the allies. "We will not tolerate a candidate thrust upon us without discussions. We have not supported or opposed anybody," Uddhav said, speaking at a party meeting here this evening. Uddhav also said that no leader, at the Centre or in the state, had "vision for the country"....
10:54 PM, May 01, 2013
Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday asserted that he will not compromise with his basic principles, such as secularism, to stay in power and will instead prefer to quit. "I have never compromised with basic principles, whether I stay in power or not," he said, while addressing a meeting of minority cell workers of his Janata Dal-United (JD-U) in Rajgir in Nalanda district. Nitish Kumar said that the...
05:53 AM, Apr 30, 2013
Patna: Stating that Bihar has treasure trove of all religions, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said there is tremendous scope to develop religious tourism in the state and exhorted industrialists to invest in the sector, particularly in hotel and transport sectors. "Bihar has many religious and historic tradition which people from across the world wish to see," Kumar said addressing a convention of industrialists at Rajgir. He mentioned Buddhist...
01:46 AM, Apr 30, 2013
Biharsharif: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday asked Janata Dal (United) workers to be prepared to face "any kind of situation" in the future. "Though everything is now normal within NDA but we should be prepares to face any if and buts in future," he said. Nitish made this appeal to party workers while addressing the JD-U trader cell at the convention hall at Rajgir. Relations between NDA partner...
12:26 AM, Apr 29, 2013
Patna: Literacy among women in Bihar has leapfrogged to over 53 per cent from 33 per cent 12 years ago due to sustained efforts of the government, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said on Sunday. "Due to the hard labour of our government the female literacy rate in Bihar which was 33 per cent in 2001 leapfrogged to over 53 per cent in 2011," Nitish told a seminar. The central government...
08:09 PM, Apr 28, 2013
Patna: Making a strong pitch for special category status for Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday said it would be better if the privilege was given sooner or else people would themselves take a decision in this regard in the 2014 general elections. "Amendment in criteria for according special status itself symbolises half victory for Bihar," Kumar said addressing a rally at Purnea. The CM reiterated demand for special...
02:59 AM, Apr 28, 2013
Patna: There is a need to make buildings earthquake-proof and these constructions should comply to green norms, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said on Friday. "Large parts of Bihar comes in earthquake zone four-five hence there is a need to make building earthquake-proof and follow green norms," the CM said addressing Indian Building Congress function in Patna. The CM said the devastating earthquake in Bhuj in Gujarat was an eye-opener...
01:54 AM, Apr 27, 2013
