In a major political development, Praja Rajyam Party chief and Telugu superstar Chiranjeevi resigned from the state assembly on Thursday, in a bid to throw his weight for a united Andhra Pradesh.
The Election Commission will start counting votes for Vidhan Sabha elections on May 23. The assembly elections were held in four states -- Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim -- simultaneously with the Lok Sabha Elections over April and May. The Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, and Sikkim Assemblies went to polls in the duration between 11 April and 19 May, and the Election Commission will declare the results for at least 534 assembly seats - which is almost as many as the Lok Sabha seats - on May 23.
Reddy faced the biggest challenge of his political life in 2015 when he was allegedly caught on camera trying to bribe a nominated MLA to vote in favour of the TDP in a legislative council election.
The Congress on Tuesday suffered a major upset in Himachal Pradesh at the hands of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Rajya Sabha elections which were marred by cross-voting in all the three states though it won three seats in Karnataka while the saffron party pocketed an extra seat in Uttar Pradesh.
The tumult in the ruling Congress in Andhra Pradesh in the aftermath of the rout in the assembly bypolls continued on Friday, with some party leaders blaming Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy for the poor showing.
How many seats will the TDP win? How many seats will the YSR Congress win?
If Meena resigns, it is likely to put pressure on other ministers whose areas also saw poor performance in the general elections.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist has decided to support the Telugu Desam Party in the Assembly byelections in Andhra Pradesh, except in the four constituencies being contested by the Left parties. The party however said this alliance would stand only for the bye-polls and did not extend to general elections to the Assembly and Lok Sabha.
The Congress' washout in the recent by-polls at the hands of rebel Y S Jaganmohan Reddy's fledgling party is understood to have been discussed at a meeting Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy had with his party chief Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi.
The Chandrababu Naidu government on Thursday formally announced in the state assembly that Andhra Pradesh's new capital will be built "in and around Vijayawada". Rediff.com was the first to report the story (below) on May 18.
The muscle-flexing by 140 Members of Legislative Assembly of the Congress in Andhra Pradesh, demanding the appointment of late AP Chief Minister Y S Rajshekhara Reddy's son Jaganmohan Reddy as the next CM, has come as a rude jolt to the Congress leadership, according to highly placed sources in the party.The party has realised that the entire power structure in a state should not be handed over to one individual or faction.
The launch of Jana Sena party by Union minister Chiranjeevi's brother and Telugu movie star Pawan Kalyan may alter political equations in Andhra Pradesh, more particularly in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions, days ahead of elections to Lok Sabha and the state assembly.
Highlights of the Union Budget 2024-25 presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
The Indian National Congress, India's oldest political party, is moving from its longtime headquarters at 24 Akbar Road to a new building called Indira Gandhi Bhawan. The move marks the end of an era for the Congress, which has been headquartered at 24 Akbar Road for nearly 50 years.
Proceedings were stalled for 25 minutes over the incident wherein the police misbehaved with CPI-M legislator Sunnam Rajaiah and his family members.
Counting of votes for the high-profile by-elections to the Kadapa Lok Sabha and Pulivendula constituencies in Andhra Pradesh commenced in Kadapa on Friday morning amidst tight security.
The Andhra Pradesh legislative assembly was adjourned on Tuesday with out transacting any business as members of Telangana Rashtra Samiti stalled the proceedings demanding that the House should adopt a resolution on formation of a spereate Telangana state.
However, the Telangana statehood was not even on the agenda of the assembly which reconvened on Thursday morning.
The suspended members were escorted out of the House by marshals.
Voting is underway in three Lok Sabha and 33 assembly seats across 10 states where by-elections are being held on Saturday.
The Congress has not found the answers to many niggling questions on Telangana, but the party has already chalked out a political game-plan in the new state, says a correspondent in Delhi
Seeking to put a lid on speculation, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Thursday said the bill for creation of the new state of Telangana, bifurcating Andhra Pradesh, will be tabled in the winter session of Parliament starting on December five.
The ruling Congress party in Andhra Pradesh is caught in a state of confusion on how to deal with the resignations of its 24 members of Legislative Assembly, who are loyal to YSR Congress president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy. For the record, the party has been saying that by-elections are inevitable in those 24 constituencies and two others from where Telugu Desam Party rebel MLAs have also resigned in support of Jagan.
The proportion of postal votes polled in the general elections has gradually risen since 2009.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Monday ruled out passing a resolution in the assembly seeking creation of separate Telangana and asserted that no one could force the Centre to take a decision on the bifurcation of the state.
The resignation crisis in the Congress commenced on Wednesday, with 15 anti-Telangana ministers submitting their resignations to Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy.
In significant upsets, the Congress on Wednesday wrested a Lok Sabha seat in Karnataka and an assembly seat in Gujarat in two Bharatiya Janata Party strongholds after 15 years but it was routed in Andhra Pradesh due to the Telangana factor.
Surprisingly, the BJP's nearest rival in ad spend was not the Congress, but the Bharat Rashtra Samithi.
Among the free symbols are walking stick, baby walker, air conditioner, balloon, bangles, wheel barrow, whistle, window, wool and needle, water melon, walnut, wallet, violin, vacuum cleaner and trumpet.
Spurred by the spectacular victory of the YSR Congress in the by-elections, many ruling Congress members of Legislative Assembly and main opposition Telugu Desam Party are believed to be keen to join the Jaganmohan Reddy bandwagon in Andhra Pradesh but he is said to wary of taking all of them.
With the Congress in power in the state and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) snapping at its heels, the BRS is now fighting an existential battle.
Two Congress members of Legislative Assembly -- Konda Surekha and Kunja Sathyavathi on Tuesday submitted their resignations from the Andhra Pradesh Assembly demanding creation of Telangana state.
Sixteen MLAs of main opposition Telugu Desam Party faxed their resignations to Andhra Pradesh assembly speaker's office tonight, protesting that the Centre did not give firm assurance on protecting the interests of people in the proposed Andhra Pradesh state after the separation of Telangana
Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly Speaker Nadendla Manohar on Saturday issued notices to nine Congress and as many Telugu Desam Party MLAs on petitions seeking their disqualification for voting in favour of the no-confidence motion against the Kiran Kumar Reddy government.
The Andhra Pradesh unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday urged the state Governor N D Tiwari to intervene to resolve the crisis over the continuance of K Rosaiah as the state chief minister.
The Congress alleged that the claims made by the ED against Baghel are part of a "conspiracy" hatched by the BJP to tarnish the Chhattisgarh chief minister's image and asserted that the people of the state would give a befitting reply to such tactics in the upcoming Assembly poll.
Leaders from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh gave an exhaustive account of the reasons for the party's defeat to party general secretary Digvijaya Singh on Monday and enumerated the steps to be taken for rebuilding the party. Rediff.com contributor Anita Katyal reports.
Ex-RS MP Harikrishna was an actor and had acted in several Telugu movies.
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