The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre completes a year in office on Sunday, a period marked by an upbeat economy and furtherance of the peace process with Pakistan even as the government grappled with coalition compulsions and an uncooperative Bharatiya Janata Party-led opposition.
Congress party's first exercise in governance by coalition has not been without friction with key supporting parties -- the Communist Party of India-Marxist and the Communist Party of India.
Slide Show: Some Cabinets do have 'em!
But the real acrimony has been in the precincts of Parliament where the main opposition, BJP, yet to recover from its shock defeat last year, has raked up a variety of issues to keep away from debate and discussion.
Dr Manmohan Singh, who found himself in the prime ministerial chair in dramatic circumstances, has led the coalition on the strength of his clean reputation, carrying forward economic reforms and showing a surprisingly deft grasp of foreign policy issues.
Major political issues have been the prerogative of party president Sonia Gandhi.
The coalition blotted its book by the messy handling of the electoral verdict in Jharkhand and political upheaval
in Goa.
Railway Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav gave enough fodder to the opposition National Democratic Alliance to attack the UPA government in view of his alleged involvement in several fodder scam cases,
particularly after courts in Jharkhand framed charges against him in two cases recently.
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