Leaders of Left parties, BSP and Telugu Desam would meet President Pratibha Patil on Tuesday to demand immediate convening of Parliament session.

Criticising the United Progressive Alliance, the Communist Party of India-Marxist on Saturday said the central government had remained a "silent spectator" even as Christians in Orissa were being targeted.

Setting an ambitious target of skill upgradation for 500 million youth by 2020, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said the UPA Government has fulfilled "much" of its commitments in the National Common Minimum Programme in the last four years.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi will head a six-member UPA-Samajwadi Party Coordination Committee constituted on Saturday.

Jharkhand Governor Syed Sibte Razi on Monday summoned Chief Minister Madhu Koda as he has refused to resign despite the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) withdrawing support to his government.

The BJP on Tuesday demanded that the UPA should "seek pardon" for misguiding the country on the cash-for-vote sting operation by "wrongly" naming a party chief minister to be a part of it.

The Left parties on Sunday said there will be a third alternative to the UPA and the NDA before the Lok Sabha polls.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh appears a natural choice as the PM candidate of the UPA in the next elections and it may be "too early" for Rahul Gandhi, NCP supremo and a key UPA partner Sharad Pawar has suggested.

Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi with son Rahul and daughter Priyanka arrived in Beijing on Thursday to attend the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.

The Samajwadi Party on Tuesday gave mixed signals on the possibility of joining the UPA Government, maintaining that it was the second largest party on the ruling side but becoming part of the coalition is not important.

The monsoon session of Parliament, earlier expected to begin on August 11, will now be convened in the second of week of September, according to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi.

Criticising the Congress-led UPA for its soft approach towards terrorists and Naxalites, the BJP on Monday asked the central government to convene an all-party meet on terrorism.

Angry over BJP leader Sushma Swaraj's charge suggesting that the government was involved in the recent serial blasts, the Congress went on the offensive on Wednesday demanding that she should be tried for "treason."

Samajwadi Party's denials notwithstanding, talk has gained ground about a possible reshuffle of the union council of ministers to accommodate members of the UPA's latest entrant.

Though it does not favour playing hardball with the UPA government, Samajwadi Party wants the Congress-led coalition to make certain changes in its policies keeping in mind the fact that general elections are round the corner.

A day after she made the astounding insinuation of a UPA conspiracy behind the recent blasts to divert attention from the cash-for-vote scam, BJP on Tuesday kept mum on senior leader Sushma Swaraj's comments.

The Congress appealed on Monday to all political parties to support the formation of a federal agency to combat terrorism in the country.

The NDA decided on Monday not to move a no-confidence motion against the government, apparently after the bruising it suffered in the confidence vote in the Lok Sabha last week.

Deputy leader of the BJP in the Lok Sabha, V K Malhotra alleged on Sunday that the VCDs of the sting operation were being tampered with under government pressure.

Claiming that existing laws have proved ineffective to tackle terrorism, senior BJP leader L K Adavni demanded that stringent anti-terror laws like POTA be revived to fight the menace.

Defending the UPA government's stance on nuclear deal, Union External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday said that by operationalising the deal the government did not intend to stockpile weapons.

In widespread condemnation of terror strikes that hit the city of Ahmedabad on Saturday, political leaders slammed terrorist organisations' effort to destabilize the country.

Samajwadi Party refused to comment on whether it had any discussions with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on joining the government, when its leaders met him on Saturday.

Having won a confidence motion for the party-led coalition at the Centre, Congress expects a no-confidence motion either against Speaker Somnath Chatterjee by Left parties or the against government by main opposition BJP in the next session of Parliament.

In the aftermath of UPA government winning the trust vote, the Samajwadi Party - which played an important role in taking the Congress-led coalition past the victory mark - on Thursday chose to be diplomatic about joining the government.