Andhra Pradesh's new chief minister has been in trouble from day one. With several serious challenges facing the state and the Opposition parties vying for power, the Congress will lose out if it does not play its cards right.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy has been killed in a helicopter crash in the dense Nallamalla forest.The wreckage has been located between Rollapenta and Rudra Koderu in Kurnool district.The helicopter had apparently met with an accident and crashed, according to Rudra Koderu Police Inspector Janardhan Rao.
Three of the BJP's sitting Lok Sabha members - Bandi Sanjay Kumar (former Telangana BJP chief and Karimnagar MP), Dharmapuri Arvind (Nizamabad MP) and Soyam Bapu Rao (Adilabad MP) will contest in the elections.
B S Yeddyurappa faces his biggest crisis after creating history over a year ago by becoming the first Bharatiya Janata Party chief minister in South India. His seat has been threatened by the Reddy brothers of Bellary, who are in no mood for a compromise and are openly seeking a leadership change in Karnataka. Although the Reddy brothers and Yeddyurappa have been at logger heads in the past, the current crisis appears to be the worst.
While 39 members of the all-important panel are general members, it has 32 permanent invitees, including some in-charges of state and 13 special invitees.
The 13 members include, sitting Congress MLA Danasari Anasuya (Seethakka) and former legislator Vem Narendar Reddy.
People who observed the way his wealth and political clout grew say his fortunes hchanged once the ruling establishment handed him control of sand quarrying in Vellore and Kanchipuram districts after 2011.
Karnataka Lokayukta Police on Tuesday raided the premises of former minister and mining baron Janardhan Reddy in Bellary for alleged illegal mining and possession of disproportionate assets.
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.
The top law officer was of the view that the "prima facie" conduct of the chief minister and his principal advisor was 'contumacious', but declined consent saying Reddy had sent the letter to Chief Justice of India S A Bobde who was seized of the matter.
Former Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy's son Jaganmohan on Wednesday filed an application with the Election Commission to form a new party.The move comes a little over a month after he quit the Congress, alleging that the party leadership, including president Sonia Gandhi, had 'insulted and humiliated' his family.After a series of discussions, Jagan's supporters felt that the name of his new party should comprise YSR but not Congress.
The idea of three capitals has not been abandoned, even as the state lurches from financial crisis to crisis.
Congress MP Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday expressed confidence that he would become the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh "sometime in future".
From being the hand-picked choice of Sonia Gandhi as Andhra Pradesh chief minister to sitting on a dharna in Delhi against division of the state, Nallari Kiran Kumar Reddy has turned from a Congress regional leader to a disgruntled rebel in his nearly 39-month tumultuous tenure.
The incident took place in the morning under Jagargunda police station area when a team of the CRPF's 165th battalion was out on an anti-Maoist operation, a police official said.
With some variations, all regional political formations, whether in power presently or out of it, share some common features: Tight family control of the political apparatus, key members in elected or appointed positions, obvious wealth but not quite known sources of income, and family factionalism, sometimes open and bitter, notes Shreekant Sambrani.
'There is ample evidence to suggest that attacks on the PM's probity and his connections with business houses do not resonate with voters.'
Among the keenly watched contests are those involving former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav (Kannauj, UP) and Union ministers Giriraj Singh (Begusarai, Bihar), Nityanand Rai (Ujiarpur, Bihar) and Raosaheb Danve (Jalna, Maharashtra).
Renowned Telangana folk singer and balladeer Gaddar, who was popularly known for his revolutionary songs during the 1980s and later during the Telangana statehood agitation, passed away in Hyderabad on Sunday due to ill-health. He was 77.
Raising social security pension amounts, increasing financial assistance given under the 'Rythu Bandhu' investment support scheme for farmers and providing LPG cylinders at Rs 400 each are some of the promises made by the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samiti for the upcoming assembly elections in Telangana.
The Palasa passenger train hit the Rayagada passenger train from behind at Kantakapalli, about 40 Km from Visakhapatnam, causing three coaches to derail.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's central leadership's decision asking Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa to step down has also put a question mark on the continuance of the Bellary brothers in the Cabinet as they have too have been indicted in the Lokayukta report on illegal mining.
Billionaire Gautam Adani to two Union Ministers and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis among others on Sunday hailed India crossing $4 trillion mark though there was no official confirmation if the country has achieved the landmark. The finance ministry and the National Statistical Office did not immediately comment on the viral social media post on India's GDP crossing $4 trillion. Highly placed sources said that the viral news was incorrect and India was still shy of that landmark.
What some of our political leaders were up to on Monday.
Kavitha has asserted that she had done nothing wrong and alleged that the BJP-led Centre was "using" the ED as the saffron party could not gain a "backdoor entry" in Telangana.
Adopting an aggressive stance and seeking to push the Centre on the defencive, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Saturday questioned the very validity of AP Reorganisation Bill-2013 saying it was violative not only of parliamentary procedures but also the Constitution of India.
Two ministers --Vatti Vasantha Kumar and Komatireddi Venkat Reddy-- have already sent in their resignations to the chief minister. The ministers, who have been left seething after the allocation of portfolios, are now getting ready for a showdown with the chief minister at the first formal meeting of the new cabinet in Hyderabad on Thursday morning.
The decision about the high-powered committee was taken as the government apparently thought of taking one step at a time instead of hurrying things up in the face of growing resistance from farmers who gave their lands for the development of Amaravati as the new capital, under the previous government headed by N Chandrababu Naidu, reports Dasarath Reddy.
With the Lok Sabha clearing the Telangana Bill, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy will resign on Wednesday, his close aide said.
'The biggest change that the BJP can initiate in the run-up to 2024 is appointing new faces as chief ministers.' 'In doing so, it will send a message well beyond 2024.'
Shivakumar has got the all-important Major and Medium Irrigation and Bengaluru City Development, including the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), Bangalore Development Authority, Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board, Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority and the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited.
Many in the rallies Y S Sharmila Reddy has been addressing feel that she would be a better chief ministerial candidate than her mother in case Jaganmohan Reddy is not out of jail, reports Vicky Nanjappa
The dream run for Janardhan Reddy has come to an end with his arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation on Monday. However, the big question that is being asked is were these raids a long shot at the rising prospects of Jagan Mohan Reddy, the son of the late Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Dr Y Rajasekara Reddy? Reports Vicky Nanjappa
A video showing a Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party leader allegedly trying to bribe a kin of a former Chief Justice of India to get a favourable verdict for mining baron G Janardhana Reddy in an illegal mining case aired on the last day of campaigning before polling on May 12.
Nallari Kiran Kumar Reddy was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh on Thursday. No other member of his cabinet took the oath as he will finalise his team after meeting party president Sonia Gandhi and other central ministers.
Crisis in the Karnataka unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party continued on Tuesday with dissidents remaining firm on their demand for the removal of Chief Minister B S Yuddyurappa.The dissenting Reddy brothers, Janardhan and Somashekhar, made it clear that they will not backtrack from their demand for the Karnataka CM's ouster.Janardhan Reddy, who is meeting with the BJP's top leadership in Delhi, said that he had met senior leader Sushma Swaraj over the issue.
Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Monday relieved two of his secretaries of their duties in the Chief Minister's Office as part of a reshuffle of nearly a dozen Indian Administrative Service officers in the state.
The BJP on Wednesday also named its in-charges for assembly bypolls to four seats in Tripura.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's decision to replace its Telangana president Bandi Sanjay Kumar with Union minister G Kishan Reddy, a "softer" leader who can take everyone along, and elevate Etela Rajender, who has switched from the BRS, as its election management committee chairperson hints at a change in the party's strategy in the state.
In a significant move forward in the probe against illegal mining by former Karnataka Tourism Minister Gali Janardhan Reddy, the Central Bureau of Investigation has started the questioning the YSR Congress President and member of Lok Sabha YS Jaganmohan Reddy on Friday.