Congress MP Lagadapati Rajagopal on Saturday took a swipe at Sonia Gandhi, saying she "ignored" the groundswell of support against division of Andhra Pradesh by not listening to the party leaders on the issue.
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.
Andhra Chief Minister K Rosaiah on Friday arrived in Delhi to meet Congress chief Sonia Gandhi to discuss various issues including the controversial padayatra undertaken by party leader Jaganmohan Reddy, expansion of the state cabinet and the selection of candidates for the by-elections in the Telangana region. He is also expected to raise the issue of Praja Rajyam leader Chiranjeevi's increasing proximity to the Congress.
The Congress may have reviewed its poll debacle in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, but unease is growing in the party in crucial states such as Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, which had returned spectacular results in the last two Lok Sabha elections.
Telugu film star and Jana Sena Party chief Pawan Kalyan has launched a vitriolic attack on the Centre for denying special category state status to Andhra Pradesh.
Seven Congress MPs from the Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh put off their decision on Tuesday to forward their resignation -- both from Lok Sabha and the party -- by a day, as they reportedly could not iron out differences among themselves on the issue.
The Congress feels that the people of Telangana must agree to some sort of a compromise formula and once the statehood is announced then they would not argue too much on this issue. The Congress says it has to take care of the interests of each and every person and this is the best workable solution available to them
According to the officials, the funds to the Congress were sent by Hyderabad-based Megha Infrastructure and Engineering.
The Andhra Pradesh Congress has managed to put off the Telangana issue for a while following the Srikrishna Commission report. For the first time, legislators from the Andhra assembly misbehaved with each other at the start of the budget session.
The Congress will be wiped out in the next elections, Rayapati Sambasiva Rao, one of the six MPs who was expelled by the Congress for opposing the creation of Telangana, tells Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa.
BJP heavyweights Smriti Irani, Arjun Munda, Ajay Mishra Teni and Kailash Chaudhary were among the 13 Union ministers who tasted defeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, as stunning losses in three Hindi heartland states forced the BJP to rely on allies to form the government.
'I am disappointed by all political parties; they have all let down the people of Andhra Pradesh,' TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu tells Rediff.com's Anita Katyal
Curfew has been imposed in Vizianagaram town with police given the orders to shoot at sight in the wake of large-scale violence by anti-bifurcation agitators, police said.
The Congress wants to reinforce the tax more powerfully now after its four generations reaped benefit of the wealth passed on to them, he said.
By announcing Telangana, the Congress aims to kill two birds with one stone.
With Andhra Pradesh assembly Speaker Nadendla Manohar making a formal announcement in the House on Monday accepting the merger of Praja Rajyam Party with the Congress, the chapter of the Chiranjeevi-led party has come to an end in the political history of the state.
The Congress party is upset with Jaganmohan Reddy's Odarpu Yatra and the axe is likely to fall soon. This fact came to light when a member of Parliament from Andhra Pradesh wrote to party president Sonia Gandhi about the structure of Reddy's proposed Odarpu Yatra (condolence tour) and the politics behind it
The ruling Congress party in Andhra Pradesh finally got a dash of glamour with popular Telugu actor Rajasekhar and his wife and film director Jeevitha formally joining the party.
YSR Congress, which is fourth largest party with 22 members in the 17th Lok Sabha, wants to maintain equidistance from both the ruling and opposition sides.
With no debate whatsoever happening on the Telangana Bill in the Andhra Pradesh assembly, Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy is once again set to seek a four-week extension of the deadline to discuss and submit a report on the Bill.
Those joining Prime Minister Narendra Modi's council of ministers for the first time include three former chief ministers -- Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh), Manohar Lal Khattar (Haryana) and H D Kumaraswamy (Karnataka).
An organisational portfolio in the Andhra Pradesh unit of the Congress party seems to be all that Y S Jaganmohan Reddy--son of late chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy--will get for the time being. Halting his aspirations of taking over the mantle from his father, the Congress high command has decided to continue with current Chief Minister K Rosaiah for the time being.
Interestingly both parties in question are in denial mode, but reliable sources say that the offer to merge was made by the Congress.
Congress on Friday said consultation process with regard to separate Telangana demand is on at various levels, but refused to set any time-frame for arriving at a decision.
Alamgir Alam had distanced himself from the activities of Lal while speaking to reporters after the ED raids, pointing out that he had earlier served with other ministers of the state government too.
Ramamurthy Naidu met Sonia Gandhi at her Parliament House office and expressed willingness to work for the party, to which she agreed.
The Congress believes the Telangana Rashtra Samithi will decide in favour of a merger as the decision on statehood has deprived the regional party of its chief electoral plank and an issue that defined its identity. Anita Katyal reports
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.
Modi told Times Now that the responsibility to take action in the raging matter lay with the state government as it was a law and order issue, according to the transcript of the interview provided by the broadcaster.
In the last five years, 480 candidates with declared cases related to hate speech have contested elections to state assemblies, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, the ADR said.
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.
'The central BJP leaders were determined to push Hindutva hard, and it failed.'
Former party General Secretary Satyavrat Chaturvedi has been given nomination from Uttaranchal.
YSR Congress Party honorary president Y S Vijayalakshmi began her indefinite fast against the proposed division of Andhra Pradesh and accused TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu of having a tacit understanding with Congress on the separate statehood issue.
YSR Congress Party chief Jagan Mohan Reddy's unexpected release on bail -- after spending 16 months behind bars on charges of corruption -- has set many tongues wagging.
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.
But the atmosphere is now conducive for the Mahayuti to continue in power in Maharashtra thanks to the government's people-centric schemes, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) is giving promises that it cannot execute, he said.
At the same time, Digvijay Singh also wanted Andhra Congress leaders, including Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee Chief Kesava Rao, Sports Minister Satyanarayana Rao to show restraint.
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.