United Progressive Alliance

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UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.
UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

United Progressive Alliance (UPA) is the name of the present ruling coalition of political parties of the Government of India. The UPA was formed soon after the 2004 Lok Sabha elections. An informal alliance, although had existed prior to the elections as several of the current constituent parties had developed seat-sharing agreements in many states. Initially, the proposed name for the alliance was 'Secular Progressive Alliance'.

The UPA's ideology is defined through a common minimum programme and is generally percieved as center-left reflecting that of the Indian National Congress whose president Sonia Gandhi is its chairperson.

In the state of Jharkhand, the constituents of the UPA are by mutual agreement supporting the government led by an independent politician, Madhu Koda.[1]

Contents

[edit] Constituents

The constituents of the UPA (with number of members in the Lok Sabha) include:[2]

This alliance also includes the four main leftist parties: Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India, Revolutionary Socialist Party and All India Forward Bloc (totalling over 60 MP's). The reason that the communist parties have given for supporting the center-left Congress is that they wish to ensure formation of a de-facto secular government at the centre.[3] These parties are not a part of the government and support it externally, by providing the government with the requisite number of seats needed for staying in power. External support has also been given by the Bahujan Samaj Party(which has 19 MP's) and smaller parties such as the Sikkim Democratic Front.[4]

At present the UPA has over 300 seats in the Lok Sabha which is well over the required figure of 272.

[edit] Withdraws

The Telengana Rashtriya Samiti(TRS) was the first party to quit the alliance, first when its ministers quit the Andhra Pradesh government, and finally when an official withdrawal was done at the national level by its president K Chandrashekhar Rao, who resigned his Lok Sabha seat.[5] Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK), which was giving external support to the coalition, began its drift when it tied up with the UPA's rival AIADMK during the Tamil Nadu elections, and on March 16th, 2007, officially withdrew support.[6] The Samajwadi Party also has withdrawn its support to the coalition.[7]

[edit] Cabinet ministers in the government

Main article: Council of Ministers, India

As of November 29, 2006 the UPA has the following cabinet ministers in the Indian government[8]:

# Name Ministry Party
1 Manmohan Singh Prime Minister Indian National Congress
2 Pranab Mukherjee External Affairs Indian National Congress
3 Arjun Singh Human Resource Development Indian National Congress
4 Sharad Pawar Agriculture and Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution Nationalist Congress Party
5 Lalu Prasad Railways Rashtriya Janata Dal
6 A.K. Antony Defence Indian National Congress
7 Shivraj Patil Home Affairs Indian National Congress
8 Abdul Rehman Antulay Minority Affairs Indian National Congress
9 Sushilkumar Shinde Power Indian National Congress
10 Ram Vilas Paswan Chemicals & Fertilizers and Steel Lok Janshakti Party
11 Jaipal Reddy Urban Development Indian National Congress
12 Sis Ram Ola Mines Indian National Congress
13 P. Chidambaram Finance Indian National Congress
14 Mahavir Prasad Small Scale Industries and Agro and Rural Industries Indian National Congress
15 P.R. Kyndiah Tribal Affairs Indian National Congress
16 T.R. Baalu Shipping, Road Transport & Highways Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
17 Shankersinh Vaghela Textiles Indian National Congress
18 Vayalar Ravi Overseas Indian Affairs Indian National Congress
19 Kamal Nath Commerce & Industry Indian National Congress
20 Hansraj Bhardwaj Law & Justice Indian National Congress
21 Sontosh Mohan Dev Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises Indian National Congress
22 Saif-ud-din Soz Water Resources Indian National Congress
23 Raghuvansh Prasad Singh Rural Development Rashtriya Janata Dal
24 Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi Parliamentary Affairs and Information & Broadcasting Indian National Congress
25 Mani Shankar Aiyar Panchayati Raj, Youth Affairs & Sports and Development of North East Region Indian National Congress
26 Meira Kumar Social Justice and Empowerment Indian National Congress
27 Murli Deora Petroleum & Natural Gas Indian National Congress
28 Ambika Soni Tourism and Culture Indian National Congress
29 A. Raja Environment & Forests Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
30 Dayanidhi Maran Communications & Information Technology Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
31 Anbumani Ramadoss Health & Family Welfare Pattali Makkal Katchi
32 Kapil Sibal Science & Technology and Earth Sciences Indian National Congress
33 Prem Chand Gupta Company Affairs Rashtriya Janata Dal

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Madhu Koda to be next Jharkhand CM. Retrieved on March 26, 2007.
  2. ^ Initial constituents of the UPA. Retrieved on March 26, 2007.
  3. ^ Secular govt a priority: Basu. Retrieved on March 26, 2007.
  4. ^ SDF regime is the golden period in Sikkim’s history. Retrieved on March 26, 2007.
  5. ^ TRS withdraws support to the UPA. Retrieved on March 26, 2007.
  6. ^ Vaiko withdraws support. Retrieved on March 26, 2007.
  7. ^ SP withdraws support to the UPA. Retrieved on March 26, 2007.
  8. ^ List of Council of Ministers. Retrieved on March 27, 2007.

[edit] External links

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