Government strategists are trying to ensure that the requisite 16 of the 31 states ratify the Bill by the end of this month
In the event of the BJP's poor performance in the assembly polls this year and in early 2025, Modi's hold will get further weakened because he will no longer remain the invincible electoral persona tightly controlling the machine at his disposal, asserts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
President Pranab Mukherjee, the former trouble-shooter of the Congress party, may informally 'guide' the Union government in drafting the bill on the creation of Telangana.
Elections for 19 Rajya Sabha seats spread across eight states will be held on Friday with the contest in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan promising to be a close affair between the BJP and the Congress.
Padmanabham said the government has assured him it would obtain the report of a commission on backward classes (for inclusion of the Kapus in Backward Classes), within seven months instead of nine, if possible, and allocate Rs 1,000 crore annually to Kapu (welfare) corporation from next year.
Several ministers in his government joined Naidu in the fast, which was held in all 13 districts of the state.
Earlier, TRS and TDP MLAs disrupted Governor ESL Narasimhan's speech on the opening day of the assembly's Budget session. They tried to tear his speech copy and climbed on the podium.
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 extended Winter session of Parliament got off a stormy start on Wednesday with uproar over the Telangana and caste-reservation issue stalling proceedings.
Union Ministers Smriti Irani and D V Sadananda Gowda have been dropped from Inter-State Council, official sources said on Wednesday.
The Congress top brass late Thursday night assured its agitating legislators of Andhra Pradesh that "no whip" will be issued to vote in favour of a separate statehood resolution, if and when it comes in the Assembly.
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.
Droupadi Murmu scripted history on Thursday by becoming India's first tribal President in the one-sided contest, defeating Opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha.
The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, an influential political party in Andhra Pradesh, pulled the rug from under the feet of the ruling Congress government on Monday after terming it "communal, a stooge of Sangh Parivar and anti-people".
Going back on its call for an indefinite shut down in Darjeeling in view of the Eid festival, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha on Thursday announced a four-day bandh from Saturday to demand a separate Gorkhaland.
While the United Progressive Alliance government is preparing to ignore the protests from anti-Telangana members of Parliament and push through the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill in Parliament on Tuesday, the Congress' grim internal assessment is that the move may not pay the requisite electoral dividends which it had originally hoped for, says Anita Katyal
The government on Thursday said it will go ahead with its decision to create Telangana despite protests in the Seemandhra region, but remained non-committal on imposition of the President's rule in Andhra Pradesh.
The polling started at 7 am and would continue till 5 pm.
Andhra Pradesh, which has lately been a hotbed of activity following the decision on Telangana will continue to see more drama in the days to come. Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy appears to have made his peace with the decision to bifurcate the state, but is weighing his options heavily in order to launch a new party. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
Polling for 16 Rajya Sabha seats in four states will be held on Friday amid allegations of attempts at horse-trading by rival parties which have corralled their MLAs in hotels and scenic resorts, prompting the Election Commission to appoint special observers and order videography of the entire exercise.
The MLAs -- 10 from the Telangana Rashtra Samiti, 2 from Congress, one each from Bharatiya Janata Party, Telugu Desam Party and Praja Rajyam -- met Speaker N Kiran Kumar Reddy in Hyderabad and submitted their resignation. The legislators said they resigned in order to mount pressure on the Centre to take immediate steps for formation of a separate state.
The Union Cabinet, which recently cleared the note on the formation of Telangana and paved the way for the creation of the new state, will do its best to ensure that the process is completed by December 9, when the chief minister of the state is likely to be sworn in.
The Opposition hit out at the government over the absence of Rajya Sabha Chairman, Lok Sabha Speaker and ministers from the traditional event marking the birth anniversary of those whose portraits adorn Parliament's Central Hall.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Sunday night appealed to ruling Congress Members of Parliament from Telangana not to undertake their proposed fast on Monday for withdrawal of police cases against students, but the Parliamentarians rejected the request. "If the government withdraws the police cases against students by evening, it is fine. Otherwise, Telangana Congress MPs would go on fast from Monday. It is a Gandhian fast," said K Keshav Rao.
Flaying the 'pomp and show' associated with the 'coronation' of N Chandrababu Naidu, Jaganmohan Reddy, chief of YSR Congress party, on Saturday said he does not want to be part of the extravagant swearing-in ceremony when Andhra Pradesh is in deep crisis.
The 77-year-old was recently diagnosed with pneumonia and was admitted to the hospital, where he died at 1.28 am, a Congress leader said.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy sought to put up a brave face as he conducted a post-mortem on Friday of the results of the legislative council election from the Assembly quota.
Braving attacks by pro-Telangana elements, nearly one lakh employees from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions congregated in Hyderabad on Saturday for a rally, which gave the call to keep the state united.
'It is not just about numbers. Sometimes coalitions and alliances have symbolic value.'
A case has been registered against Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen legislator Akbaruddin Owaisi for threatening to kill controversial Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen.
Hari Shankar Brahma, who took over as the 19th Chief Election Commissioner on Friday, said his priority and "mission objective" is to ensure free and fair conduct of Delhi assembly polls.
The controversial Communal Violence Bill and the bill for creation of Telangana will be tabled in the next session of Parliament, Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said on Thursday.
'Favourable treatment to selected areas has been a pattern throughout the state.'
While Rahul loyalists were keen that he be given the post, a leader known to be close to him said, "If he does not become the leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, then he should quit politics."
He served as Union minister of information and broadcasting in the IK Gujral government and was allotted different portfolios in the Manmohan Singh government.
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.
Addressing a press conference in Hyderabad on Friday Rosaiah said that he will abide by the decisions and directions of high command on the issue of Telangana but so far he had not received any instruction on when to move a resolution in the state assembly.
The number of Congress MPs to resign to protest against the Centre's decision to carve out a separate Telangana state from Andhra Pradesh has gone up to three, while 90 MLAs from Congress, Telugu Desam Party and Praja Rajyam have also resigned. Two TDP MPs have also submitted their resignation.
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