In the coming assembly election, negotiations over seat-sharing will be as important as actual outreach to voters.
The Congress on Wednesday removed its former Uttarakhand unit chief Kishore Upadhyay from all positions for anti-party activities, pending further action in the matter.
'The continuous and mysterious praise of the BJP and the chief minister by AIUDF leadership and senior members have affected the public perception of the Congress party'
Carving out Rayalseema is aimed at reducing the clout and weightage of Jagan Mohan Reddy, who commands strong support in the region.
Andhra Pradesh may witness a spell of President's rule in the wake of the resignation of Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy.
Congress general secretary and leader-in-charge of Andhra Pradesh Digvijaya Singh added to the confusion surrounding the Telangana issue on Thursday when he spoke about the possibility of a Constitutional Amendment to create a separate state.
Congress president and United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi has directed all party-ruled states to subsidise three additional cylinders a year for domestic liquefied petroleum gas, raising the cap on subsidised cylinders from six to nine.
With the Opposition adamant on the cancellation of coal blocks, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday deliberated with the party top brass in the midst of the logjam in Parliament. Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal was also called for the Congress Core Committee meeting and so were Law Minister Salman Khurshid and Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh had a rare smile on his face when he categorically ruled out his resignation. He had just returned from Teheran when he outright rejected the Bharatiya Janata Party's demand for his resignation.
Janata Darty-Secular leader H D Deve Gowda on Thursday announced his party's support to UPA's Presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee.
While the opposition continues to demand a rollback, the government is not inclined to give a categorical assurance to that effect. Renu Mittal reports.
The Congress core committee has rejected the demand made by Team Anna to withdraw the Lokpal bill from Parliament and replace it with the Jan Lokpal bill.
The UPA II government's next move rests on a 'yes' or 'no' to Telangana by the Congress core committee, which meets in Hyderabad on Friday to take a political decision on the issue that has created a crisis in Andhra Pradesh since the past three weeks.
The Congress Core Committee met in New Delhi on Friday to deliberate on the delicate Telangana issue on which party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad submitted a report amid indications that a decision on it will take some more time. Amid mounting pressure from pro-Telangana groups whose agitation for a separate state continued for the 18th day on Friday, Congress' top brass, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and party chief Sonia Gandhi, met in Delhi.
The Bharatiya Janata Party is gearing up to launch a fresh attack on the ruling United Progressive Alliance at a major news conference on Thursday afternoon. Meanwhile, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal defended Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the 2G row, saying irrespective of what the concerned minister says, the PM is not liable for his actions. The Congress Core Committee is scheduled to discuss the spectrum row later in the evening.
Following the week-long standoff between the Nagas and the Manipur government over Thuingaleng Muivah's visit to his native village, the Congress core committee decided not to allow the separatist leader to enter the state. After prolonged deliberations, the party top-brass on Wednesday felt that the visit of the country's top rebel leader from the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-IM might worsen the law and order situation in Manipur.
With the Parliament stalled for the 18th consecutive day on Tuesday over the demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee into the 2G spectrum scam, the Congress core committee met yet again on Tuesday evening to take stock of the situation both inside and outside Parliament.
With the Bharatiya Janata Party deciding to move its Karnataka battleground to Delhi to parade its 105 MLAs before President Pratibha Patil on Tuesday, the Congress core committee, which met on Monday evening, decided to wait and watch the situation and not take any decision in haste.
Under severe push from Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee combine, the Congress core committee decided to show Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor the door on Sunday evening.
Even as keenly awaited terms of reference of Justice B N Srikrishna commission on Telangana were likely to be announced in New Delhi on Thursday, tension was mounting in the region once again. Leaders and legislators of Telangana region are becoming restive day by day.
The Telangana Rashtra Samithi and Telangana leaders of other parties are ready for "any sacrifices" if the terms of reference (TOR) of the Srikrishna Committee are not in their favour, TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao said today.
Pushed to the corner by the deteriorating health condition of Telangana Rashtriya Samiti chief K Chandrasekhar Rao, the Congress on Wednesday night agreed to pass a resolution in the Andhra Pradesh assembly for the creation of a separate Telangana state, in a bid to defuse the current volatile situation. Addressing a press conference late on Wednesday night, Home Minister P Chidambaram said, "The process of creating a separate Telangana state will be initiated."
The Congress Core Committee met on Thursday evening to discuss the Bhopal gas leak and to give directions to the Group of Ministers who would be meeting on Friday afternoon to find a way of breaking the impasse created by the court verdict in handing out punishment to the guilty, said highly placed sources.
The Congress chief met Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath and Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde to chalk out a strategy on the controversial legislation. Vicky Nanjappa reports
The Congress is likely to make the Telangana issue a part of its manifesto in the forthcoming elections, reports Vicky Nanjappa
The Congress's strategy is to get the bill passed in the Rajya Sabha and then try its luck in the Lok Sabha, where it is unsure of the Bharatiya Janata party's support for it. This, say sources, is the GoM's face-saver plan, as the Rajya Sabha's okay will keep the Bill alive for the 16th Lok Sabha.
No decision has been taken so far on whether Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will attend the of Commonwealth Heads of Government meet in Sri Lanka on November 15-16, the external affairs ministry said on Thursday, asserting it will be taken after considering all aspects including "national interest" and "international obligations".
The Congress has almost decided to accept the demand for a separate state of Telangana but is still to work out the nitty-gritty of Andhra Pradesh's bifurcation.
Legislators from the Andhra-Seema belt say that Kiran Kumar Reddy ready knew about the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh since December. Vicky Nanjappa reports
After having gone out on a limb over the creation of Telangana, the UPA government is expected to go for the kill and do whatever it takes to pass the bill in Lok Sabha. But the question remains whether the Congress would really be able to push the bill in the noise and confusion. Renu Mittal reports.
Reversing its earlier step, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday decided to withdraw the ordinance as well as bill that sought to give protection to convicted lawmakers in the wake of public outburst against it by Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi.
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