New Delhi: An aggressive Opposition that thought it was sure to come to power, demanding allies and uneasy power equations with the ruling Congress marked the initial 100 days of the Congress-led coalition at the Centre that has had anything but a period of honeymoon.

In his inimitable low-key style, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has tried to grapple with the multiple problems, but controversy has engulfed his Government right from the day he took office.

"Tainted" ministers, drought, floods, insurgency, inflation, truckers' strike, water disputes, hostage crisis, topped by a row over a meeting with Opposition leader, Singh has moved from one trouble to another while his predecessor Governments did enjoy a "honeymoon" to a reasonable extent.

Singh, a late entrant into politics has endured 100 days of turmoil in a stoic manner but last week he did give vent to his feelings at a function when he said his Government was going through "abnormal" times and was not allowed the normal trouble free initial period.

In fact, Cabinet formation itself led to considerable acrimony and marked the beginning of what is now known as the Paswan-Laloo divide, leave alone DMK's (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) famous sulk.

Swearing in of RJD (Rashtriya Janata Dal) Ministers, including Laloo Prasad who got the prized Railways portfolio, gave the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) led Opposition, which was yet to recover from a shock defeat at the hustings, an issue on a platter with which began the deadlock in Parliament.