Polling began in the crucial by-elections to the 18 assembly segments and one Lok Sabha constituency in Andhra Pradesh, results of which are expected to give a new direction to the state politics.
The 71-year-old remained Sonia Gandhi's most trusted lieutenant for most of her tenure as the longest serving Congress president, standing by her side through sun and shade.
States like Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh had on Friday announced similar incentives.
Lashing out at Congress President Sonia Gandhi for "playing with the lives of Telugu people" and "murdering democracy in broad daylight", YSR Congress chief Y S Jaganmohan Reddy on Saturday called on Telugu people to give 30 Lok Sabha seats to his party in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections to stop the division of Andhra Pradesh.
It has been virtually a ten-year wait that's coming to a happy end for the 47-year-old leader, who nurtured the ambition of becoming chief minister soon after his father's death in September 2009.
He is starting to realise that an era is ending. And he is not ready to have a five-decade career besmirched by two alphabets -- AP -- that have cropped up in the AgustaWestland papers, says Aditi Phadnis.
Noisy protests disrupted the both houses of the Parliament on the first day of the second part of the budget session
The Andhra Pradech CM asked party MPs to meet the President after Parliament is adjourned sine die.
]If Andhra Pradesh's middle class is denied salaries and pensions or, if these are delayed, it will rise against Jagan Mohan Reddy with the same fervour with which it voted him in.
Veteran Congress leader Digvijaya Singh and Bharatiya Janata Party candidates Jyotiraditya Scindia and Sumer Singh Solanki on Friday won Rajya Sabha election from Madhya Pradesh.
Time is running out for a hapless UPA govt over the Telangana bill, and the latest observation by the Rajya Sabha secretariat -- that the bill has financial implications and so must be introduced and passed in the Lok Sabha first -- has only worsened the crisis for the ruling alliance. Anita Katyal reports.
Patel, 71, who was critical for a few days, was admitted to the Medanta hospital in Gurugram on November 15 after he developed complications. His son Faisal said he died at 3.30 am.
Come June 1, the premises that serve as the Andhra Pradesh assembly would have two sittings. In the morning it would serve as the assembly for Seemandhra and in the afternoon, it would act as the Telangana assembly. Aditi Phadnis and Dasarath Reddy report
Hoping that the new state of Telangana will come into being by January, over a dozen Congress leaders from the region are said to be lobbying hard with the party high command for the chief minister's post.
Tamil Nadu, which boasted of as many as nine ministers in the UPA-II government in 2009, did not get any representation in Modi 2.0 government.
The CBI also submitted another referral report in the court exonerating Bharatiya Janata Party leader AP Abdullakutty in the sexual exploitation complaint by the woman.
Union Textiles Minister K Sambasiva Rao on Thursday resigned from the Union Cabinet protesting bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, fuelling speculation that he may join Bharatiya Janata Party.
The opposition has been protesting over various issues, including the Punjab National Bank scam, since Monday when Parliament had reconvened after a month-long recess in the Budget session.
An interesting contest is on in Malkajgiri, the biggest Lok Sabha constituency in the country.
The Centre on Thursday sent the controversial Telangana Bill to the Andhra Pradesh Assembly, setting a six-week timeline to approve the proposal to bifurcate the state.
The BJP president further said that Andhra Pradesh has always been on the agenda of national development and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has left no stone unturned to ensure its growth and prosperity.
Taking his fight against division of Andhra Pradesh to the national capital, YSR Congress Party chief Jaganmohan Reddy on Monday staged a protest and courted arrest, while accusing the Congress of engineering the pepper spray episode in Parliament.
Barely a few hours after Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu said at a rally that his party would fight alone in Seema-Andhra, the TDP has gone into damage control mode and says the statement was misinterpreted.
The TDP supremo said he had not contacted any party yet but given the 'TDP's credibility' they were supporting the no-trust motion.
A bandh called by the YSR Congress, Telugu Desam Party and other anti-Telangana political parties is being observed in Seemandhra region of Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday to protest against the passage of the AP Reorganisation Bill-2013 in the Lok Sabha.
Top opposition leaders including Rahul Gandhi and Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday agreed to work together to prepare a common minimum programme.
While Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy is considering staying away from mainstream politics for a few months after resigning, Seema-Andhra MPs are gearing up to join the BJP or YSR Congress. Vicky Nanjappa reports
Reddy alone will take oath on Thursday while his Council of Ministers is likely to be constituted on June 7, party sources said.
Gandhi attacked the government over its 'maximum governance' slogan, saying this also meant expanding the base of disagreement without inviting retribution, a reference to its crackdown on several non-governmental organisations.
With an aggressive Opposition and unyielding government, important legislation could be the biggest casualty, as details of the helicopter contract surface.
The ministers quit their posts in protest against central govt to grant special category status to Andhra Pradesh.
Realising that there was no possibility of being re-elected on a Congress ticket, Rao has now decided to hitch his wagon to the Bhartiya Janata Party. In an exclusive interview with Rediff.com's Anita Katyal Union Textiles Minister K S Rao explains the reason for leaving the Congress, his assessment of Rahul Gandhi's leadership and his future plans.
After post-mortem in the local government hospital, police confirmed the case was altered to Section 302 Indian Penal Code that relates to murder.
Over 20 political parties, except the Biju Janata Dal and the Communist Party of India-Marxist-led Left Front, took part in the massive rally.
"What is the hurry," Modi said, while referring to Gandhi's hand gestures when he came across to PM's chair.
Congress Members of Parliament and members of Legislative Assembly from Telangana on Monday slammed Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and accused him of weakening the party in the region that is witnessing an agitation for statehood. The MPs also condemned the "repressive measures" against Telangana protagonists and alleged that the chief minister's actions were "provoking" people of the region.
As nominations for Rajya Sabha biennial polls closed on Tuesday, a contest is on the cards in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana even as Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram are among those set to be elected to the Upper House.
She is criticising what is perceived to be KCR's strongest point -- welfare -- by charging the government with corruption.
The reunion of the two parties, which comes after a separation of three years due to what they termed "communication gap," may alter the political scenario in the state, where the local body elections are round the corner.
