Ramamurthy Naidu met Sonia Gandhi at her Parliament House office and expressed willingness to work for the party, to which she agreed.
Cracking the whip, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar on Thursday suspended 18 MPs from Andhra Pradesh for rest of the session after unprecedented pandemonium broke out in the House over the Telangana issue.
Come May 16, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance will have more seats from Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh than any formation mustered by the Congress, notes T V R Shenoy.
What some of our leaders were up to on Tuesday, October 18.
All India Congress president Sonia Gandhi has invited Praja Rajyam Party president and Tirupati Member of Legislative Assembly Chiranjeevi to New Delhi to meet her anytime between August 7 and 10 to formally take primary membership of the Congress party.
Protesting against the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, Congress MP from Rayalseema region Rayapati Samba Siwaa Rao resigned from the primary membership of the party on Friday while heaping praise on Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.
The government on Tuesday introduced a constitutional amendment bill reserving 33 per cent seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, reviving a proposal pending for years and blending history, politics and societal imperatives on the first day in the new Parliament building.
"Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy is a man with vision. His service to mankind is what basically attracted me towards him and also the Congress," Raja said in an exclusive chat with PTI on Sunday. The actor said the Congress government's welfare schemes, particularly in health care and education also drew him towards the party.
Congress on Wednesday downplayed the defiance by Y S Jaganmohan Reddy who resumed his 'yatra', saying it was not worried by the issue related to "one MP" who could be indulging in "childish behaviour".
The Congress knew that Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra Pradesh are lost for a long time as Y S Jaganmohan Reddy's leadership is taking deep roots. It also knew that if the next government is formed by the NDA then Telangana will definitely be created depriving them any credit. This pushed the Congress to finally endorse the new state. But the huge risk behind the decision and the uncertainties that go with it are making Congress nervous, says Sheela Bhatt.
'The others have been looting the people all these years. If you don't do that, you can do a lot for the people,' says Tamil star politician Vijayakanth.
Congress is likely to clear its position on the vexed issue of Telangana soon, as a view is firming up in the party that dragging on with the separate statehood demand will be detrimental to its interests.
The government on Monday said it was willing to discuss every issue under rules during the Budget session of Parliament and sought the support of the Opposition in running the proceedings smoothly.
Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh on Sunday said a separate state of Telangana could be carved out of Andhra Pradesh, only if the State Assembly first passes a resolution on it.
'The situation in India is much more grave and serious than all of us think.' 'That's why it's important to defeat the BJP in 2024.'
The Congress welcomed the resignation of Andhra Pradesh Governor N D Tiwari in the wake of a sting operation that purportedly showed him in a compromising position with three women.
For the Congress government in Andhra Pradesh the ongoing crisis in Telangana will not end with granting statehood. The decision on making Hyderabad a common capital or Union Territory will be a crucial one if it wants to retain power in the state, reports Vicky Nanjappa.
The decision on Telangana will be taken only after more consultations with senior leaders, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said in New Delhi on Sunday evening. He said leaders from both Rayalseema-Andhra and Telangana will be invited to Delhi for talks before a final decision is taken.
"It is just an announcement; the real celebrations will begin once the bill is passed in the Parliament," Telangana Rashtra Samithi chief K Chandrasekara Rao said.
Congress legislators in Andhra Pradesh are pressing ahead with their informal meeting in Hyderabad on Saturday, to reiterate their demand to make Jaganmohan Reddy the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh after the tragic death of his father YS Rajasekhara Reddy, in spits of the party high command expressing its displeasure over the campaign.According to sources, the party high command was perturbed by the undue haste to thrust Jaganmohan Reddy into the spotlight.
In an embarrassment to the Congress, 10 party members of Parliament from Telangana region in Andhra Pradesh, who have tendered their resignation on the separate statehood issue, on Monday stayed away from Parliament on the opening day of the monsoon session.
A message from KCR on Thursday evening persuaded the Congress to take its MLAs to Hyderabad.
The fund would be on the lines of Member of Parliament Local Area Development fund.
Rebel Congress leader and former Member of Parliament from Kadapa, Y S Jaganmohan Reddy will formally launch his much awaited regional political party at his family estate Idupulapaya on Saturday.
As the Rajya Sabha passed the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill 2014 on Thursday, giving birth to India's 29th state, Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt takes final stock of how it was accomplished.
Vicky Nanjappa goes on the campaign trail with YSR Congress chief Jaganmohan Reddy in Srikakulam district.
Rahul said that the purpose of the party's 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' is to remove fear from the people's minds and highlight issues like price rise and unemployment.
The Congress may proudly claim that the party has given the country its first woman speaker in Meira Kumar, but sources tell rediff.com that the Bihar MP was in fact a last-minute choice for the august office.
Sibal, who quit the Congress last year, said the party's Kanyakumari to Kashmir Yatra "optically" seems to have succeeded and gotten the support of non-Congress elements as well.
What is the Amul Vs Nandini battle. Why does the opposition see red over the Gujarat dairy brand's Bengaluru foray with its brand of milk and curd. An explainer seeks to shed light on the issue.
Party president Sonia Gandhi nominated Mukut Mithi (Arunachal Pradesh), Peerzada Sayeed (Jammu and Kashmir), Prabha Rau (Maharashtra), B D Kalla (Rajasthan) and Salman Khurshid (Uttar Pradesh).\n\n
Describing Y S Rajasekhara Reddy as a 'dynamic' chief minister and human being, the Congress on Thursday said his demise was a 'tremendous loss' to the party, which will take very long to come to terms with it. Condoling Reddy's death, Left parties described him the 'popular' chief minister of Andhra Pradesh. "Reddy was the son of the soil and had special concern for the welfare of poor and other weaker sections of the society," the BJP said.
Elections will be held on June 10 to fill 57 Rajya Sabha seats from 15 states falling vacant due to the retirement of members on different dates between June and August, the Election Commission said on Thursday.
Praja Rajyam Party chief Chiranjeevi today strongly refuted reports that his party has merged with Congress, saying it was only a "media creation".
If the Congress can simply go from 110 million to 130 million votes, it will yield a very different kind of NDA.
Pawar said state Congress leaders Ashok Chavan and Balasaheb Thorat had met him and extended an invitation to participate in the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
The session will commence with the maiden address of President Droupadi Murmu to the joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament. The address essentially highlights the government's achievements and policy priorities.
The prime minister, who is visiting the US at the invitation of President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, will join them for the state banquet along with a number of dignitaries on Thursday.
In acute embarrassment to the Congress party and Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy in Andhra Pradesh, supporters of rebel leader YS Jaganmohan Reddy caused the defeat of a Congress candidate in the elections to the legislative council.
