| Party Name: | United Progressive Alliance |
| Abbreviation: | UPA |
| Founder: | Sonia Gandhi |
| Formerchairman: | Sonia Gandhi (last) |
| Formerpm: | Manmohan Singh (2004–2014) |
| No Of Members: | 19 Parties |
| Successor: | Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) |
| Position: | Centre-left to left-wing[1] |
The United Progressive Alliance (UPA; IAST: Saṁyukt Pragatiśīl Gaṭhabandhan) was a political alliance in India led by the Indian National Congress. It was formed after the 2004 general election with support from left-leaning political parties when no single party got the majority.[2]
The UPA subsequently governed India from 2004 until 2014 for 2 terms before losing power to their main rivals, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. The UPA used to rule 7 States and union territories of India before it was dissolved to form the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance on 18 July 2023 ahead of the 2024 general election.[3] [4]
UPA was formed soon after the 2004 Indian general election when no party had won a majority. The then ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) won 181 seats[5] of 544, as opposed to the UPA's tally of 218 seats.
The Left Front with 59 MPs (excluding the speaker of the Lok Sabha), the Samajwadi Party with 39 MPs and the Bahujan Samaj Party with 19 MPs were other significant blocks that supported UPA at various times.[6] [7] UPA did not achieve a majority, rather it relied on external support, similar to the formula adopted by the previous minority governments of the United Front, the NDA, the Congress government of P. V. Narasimha Rao, and earlier governments of V. P. Singh and Chandra Shekhar.
An informal alliance had existed prior to the elections as several of the constituent parties had developed seat-sharing agreements in many states. After the election the results of negotiations between parties were announced. The UPA government's policies were initially guided by a common minimum programme that the alliance hammered out with consultations with Jyoti Basu and Harkishan Singh Surjeet of the 59-member Left Front.[8] Hence, government policies were generally perceived as centre-left, reflecting the centrist policies of the INC.
During the tenure of Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda, the constituents of the UPA were, by mutual consent, supporting his government.[9]
On 22 July 2008, the UPA survived a vote of confidence in the parliament brought on by the Left Front withdrawing their support in protest at the India–United States Civil Nuclear Agreement.[10] The Congress party and its leaders along with then Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh were accused of a "cash for vote" scam as part of the cash-for-votes scandal, in which they were accused of buying votes in Lok Sabha to save the government.[11] [12] [13] During UPA I, the economy saw steady economic growth and many people (100 million+) escaped poverty.
In the 2009 Lok Sabha election, the UPA won 262 seats, of which the INC accounted for 206. During UPA II, the alliance won election in Maharashtra, Haryana and Arunachal Pradesh. However, there were several allegations of scams during its tenure that impacted UPA's image nationwide and the approval rating for the government fell. In addition, many members left for YSRCP. This started a domino effect with members leaving to form their own parties and parties such as DMK leaving the alliance altogether. During this time UPA struggled with state election and leadership stability. The alliance suffered a defeat in 2014 Indian general election as it won only 60 seats. In addition, UPA won only one state election and got wiped out from Andhra Pradesh where they previously had 150+ MLAs.
From 2014 to 2017, UPA won only 3 state elections. This was blamed on the alliance's failed leadership and weakness compared to the NDA. In addition the party lost power in states where they had once won state elections as in Bihar. In 2017 the alliance lost again. In 2018 UPA had a phenomenal comeback in the state elections as the party won important in Karnataka, Rajasthan and others. More parties joined the alliance and it was stronger than ever.
In 2019 Indian general election the UPA won only 91 seats in the general election and INC won 52 seats, thus failed to secure 10% seats required for the leader of opposition post. The alliance lost another state to BJP with the party winning by-polls and pushing the UPA into the minority.
Towards the end of 2019, the alliance made huge gains in Haryana, won in Jharkhand and formed a state-level alliance called Maha Vikas Aghadi to form the government in Maharashtra with Uddhav Thackeray of Shiv Sena leading the ministry. Shiv Sena had been a member of NDA for twenty five years. It left NDA and joined MVA in 2019.[14]
Since 2020, more parties joined the alliance. The alliance lost the Bihar election that everyone expected it to win but in 2022, ruling party JD(U) left National Democratic Alliance and rejoined Mahagathbandhan to form government in Bihar.
In addition UPA only won 1 out of the 5 state elections in 2021. However the alliance made significant gain in a number of MLA races. MVA lost control of Maharashtra due to crisis and split in Shiv Sena. Moreover, UPA lost in Gujarat assembly elections however, it won the state election in Himachal Pradesh.
In 2023, UPA again failed in winning elections in the North-East but won the assembly in the very important state of Karnataka.
The alliance was rebranded as the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance on 18 July 2023, with many parties joining the newly-formed alliance. The alliance will contest the 2024 Indian general election, being the primary opposition to the ruling National Democratic Alliance.[15]
Current Members at the time of dissolution.
Members left before dissolution.
| Political Party | State | Date | Reason for withdrawal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BRS | Telangana | 2006 | |||
| BSP | National Party | 2008 | Congress opposed the UP government where the BSP was the ruling party | ||
| JKPDP | Jammu and Kashmir | 2009 | Congress decided to support National Conference Government in Jammu and Kashmir | ||
| PMK | Tamil Nadu | 2009 | PMK declared that it would join the AIADMK led front | ||
| AIMIM | Telangana | 2012 | Accused Congress led State Government of Communalism | ||
| AITC | West Bengal | 2012 | AITC's demands on rollbacks and reforms not met, including the governments decision to allow FDI in retail and hike in the prices of railway tickets. | ||
| SJ(D) | Kerala | 2014 | It merged with Janata Dal (United) on 29 December 2014. | ||
| RLD | Uttar Pradesh | 2014 | Decided to leave after 2014 election performance. | ||
| JD(S) | Karnataka | 2019 | After JD(S)-INC alliance govt fell in Karnataka, two parties decided to end alliance. | ||
| RLSP | Bihar | 2020 | Withdrawn support before Bihar Assembly Election 2020 & Allied with BSP+ on 29 September 2020. | ||
| VIP | Bihar | 2020 | Withdrawn support before Bihar Assembly Election 2020 & Allied with NDA | ||
| KC(M) | Kerala | 2020 | Decided to join LDF | ||
| BPF | Assam | 2021 | Withdrew due to performance in 2021 Assam election. | ||
| AIUDF | Assam | 2021 | Party was expelled from the alliance. | ||
| 1. | Indian National Congress | 145 | 32 | 26.7% | |
| 2. | Rashtriya Janata Dal | 21 | 12 | 2.2% | |
| 3. | Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | 16 | 4 | 1.8% | |
| 4. | Nationalist Congress Party | 9 | 1 | 1.8% | |
| 5. | Lok Janshakti Party | 4 | 0.6% | ||
| 6. | Telangana Rashtra Samithi | 2 | 0.6% | ||
| 7. | Pattali Makkal Katchi | 6 | 1 | 0.5% | |
| 8. | Jharkhand Mukti Morcha | 5 | 0.5% | ||
| 9. | Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | 4 | 0.4% | ||
| 10. | Indian Union Muslim League | 1 | 1 | 0.2% | |
| 11. | Republican Party of India (Athawale) | 1 | 0.1% | ||
| 12. | Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party | 1 | 0.1% | ||
| Total | 218 | 83 | 35.4% | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Indian National Congress | 206 | 61 | |
| 2. | Rashtriya Janata Dal | 4 | 17 | |
| 3. | Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | 18 | 2 | |
| 4. | Nationalist Congress Party | 9 | 1 | |
| 5. | All India Trinamool Congress | 19 | 18 | |
| 6. | Jammu & Kashmir National Conference | 3 | 3 | |
| 7. | Bodoland People's Front | 1 | 1 | |
| 8. | Jharkhand Mukti Morcha | 3 | ||
| 9. | All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen | 1 | 1 | |
| 10. | Indian Union Muslim League | 2 | 1 | |
| 11. | Kerala Congress (Mani) | 1 | 1 | |
| Total | 262 | 44 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Note that it refers to nomination by alliance, as the offices of President and Vice President are apolitical.
| Portrait | Name (birth–death) | Term of officeElectoral mandates Time in office | Previous post | Vice president | Party[16] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | Pratibha Patil | 25 July 2007 | 25 July 2012 | Governor of Rajasthan | Bhairon Singh Shekhawat (2007)----Mohammad Hamid Ansari(2007–12) | Indian National Congress | ||
| 2007 | ||||||||
| 13 | Pranab Mukherjee | 25 July 2012 | 25 July 2017 | Union Minister of Finance | Mohammad Hamid Ansari (2012–17) | |||
| 2012 | ||||||||
| Portrait | Name [17] | Elected (% votes) | Took office | Left office | Term | President(s) | Party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | Mohammad Hamid Ansari (b.1937) | 2007 (67.21) | 11 August 2007 | 10 August 2012 | Pratibha Patil | Indian National Congress | |||
| 2012 (67.31) | 11 August 2012 | 10 August 2017 | Pranab Mukherjee | ||||||
| No. | Prime ministers | Portrait | Term in office | Lok Sabha | Government | Cabinet | Constituency | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start | End | Tenure | |||||||
| 14 | Manmohan Singh | 22 May 2004 | 22 May 2009 | 14th | UPA I | Rajya Sabha MP From Assam | |||
| 22 May 2009 | 26 May 2014 | 15th | UPA II | Manmohan Singh II | |||||
| Election | Seats won | Change | Total votes | Share of votes | Swing | Status | UPA Leader | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | New | 158,305,006 | 36.66% | New | Manmohan Singh | |||
| 2014 | 202 | 130,664,858 | 23.59% | 13.07% | Sonia Gandhi/Rahul Gandhi | |||
| 2019 | 31 | 177,645,346 | 29.00% | 5.41% | Rahul Gandhi |
The winter session of parliament in October 2008 came under intense criticism from the Left parties and the BJP to demand a full-fledged winter session instead of what was seen as the UPA to having "scuttled the voice of Parliament" by bringing down the sittings to a record low of 30 days in the year. The tensions between the UPA and the opposition parties became evident at an all-party meeting convened by Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee when the leader of opposition, L. K. Advani questioned the status, timing and schedule of the current session of parliament.[18]
M. Karunanidhi had said he felt "let down" by the "lukewarm" response of the centre and had demanded amendments in the resolution on Sri Lanka.
One of the amendments was to "declare that genocide and war crimes had been committed and inflicted on the Sri Lankan Tamils by the Sri Lanka Army and the administrators".
The second one was "establishment of a credible and independent international commission of investigation in a time-bound manner into the allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity, violations of international International human rights law, violations of international humanitarian law and crime of genocide against the Tamils". Karunanidhi said Parliament should adopt the resolution incorporating these two amendments.[19]
The year 2008 was a darkest part of the UPA, due to the failure to prevent several terrorist attacks. The UPA had repealed the Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002 in 2004, which softened the stand on acts of terrorism and reduced powers for the law enforcement while dealing with acts of terrorism.[20] The weakened legislation, along with intelligence failures, resulted in bombings in 2008 across cities like Jaipur, Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Delhi, led by the Indian Mujahideen under support from Pakistan based ISI, as well as 2006 Mumbai train bombings and 2006 Varanasi bombings.[21] During the 2008 Mumbai attacks, when 10 Pakistani terrorists from the banned terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba came from the sea route and seized the city for 3 days, the UPA Government faced immense condemnation from citizens and leaders of opposition for intelligence failures as well as not being able to provide quick transportation for NSG commandos.[22] [23] Furthermore, Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, faced extreme disparagement for launching a book which mentioned that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh was somehow linked to the attack, despite credible evidence and confessions from Ajmal Kasab, the only gunman who was captured by Mumbai Police.[24] [25] The 2008 attacks in Mumbai also led to resignation of several leaders like Vilasrao Deshmukh, R. R. Patil and Shivraj Patil, on the grounds of moral responsibility as well as for making insensitive statements.[26] [27] [28] The UPA subsequently faced flak for being soft against Pakistan following the attack, as well as in the aftermath of Pakistan Army beheading soldiers of the Indian Army in 2013.[29] Following the 2011 Mumbai bombings, which claimed 26 lives and injured 130+, UPA leader and INC General Secretary Rahul Gandhi remarked that it was impossible to stop every terror attack, adding that "We work towards defeating it, but it is very difficult to stop all the attacks. Even the United States, they are being attacked in Afghanistan.".[30] His comments drew flak from some quarters of the Indian political spectrum, who criticised him for equating the Mumbai attacks with those in Afghanistan and called it an insult to those killed in the blasts.[31] [32]
The UPA was criticised for its alleged involvement scams such as the Commonwealth Games Scam of 2010, the 2G spectrum case, and the Indian coal allocation scam. Apart from the above-mentioned scams, the UPA has been under intense fire for the alleged doles handed out to the son-in-law of the Gandhi family, Robert Vadra, by UPA-run state governments.[33]
The UPA Government has been severely condemned for mishandling the aftermath of the 2012 Delhi gang rape case. As per several media houses, the Government had failed to act positively or give credible assurances to the protesters and instead used police force, lathi-charging, pushing the media out of the scene, and shutting down metro rail stations.[34] In the aftermath of the incident, while the Government passed an amendment of the current laws against rape and sexual assault, which ensured stricter punishments for rape convicts, the amendment was criticized and labeled as an eyewash, as the changes in the laws failed to serve as a deterrent to rising incidents of rape.[35] Furthermore, several key suggestions were ignored, including the criminalisation of marital rape and trying military personnel accused of sexual offences under criminal law, which was severely condemned by several women's safety activists.[36] The UPA was also slammed for inaction against political leaders such as Digvijaya Singh and Mulayam Singh Yadav for their comments which promoted misogyny and anti-women views, as well as insensitivity towards rape victims. [37] [38] [39]
During its tenure between 2004 and 2014, as well as before, the UPA faced widespread condemnation for indulging in appeasement politics. Following the introduction of Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019, which criminalized triple talaq or instant divorce and replaced the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act 1986, several leaders from the UPA opposed the law.[40]
The UPA, in its opposition, faced immense criticism by the NDA Government for banking frauds, mostly by giving unsecured loans to fugitive businessmen Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi during the tenure of then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.[41] [42] Mallya owes money to a consortium of 17 banks, from whom he took loan to fund his now closed Kingfisher Airlines, and Modi owes money to the Punjab National Bank.[43] [44] While Mallya and Modi have been apprehended in the Great Britain and awaiting extradition, Choksi acquired citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda, with a warrant against him to extradite to India for the bank fraud.[45] [46] [47]