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).
In a major set back to those opposing the state's bifurcation, the Andhra Pradesh high court has struck down a petition questioning the creation of Telangana.
According to BJP insiders, every Union minister has been given 3-4 seats to mentor and has been told to work hard on these constituencies in the next 20 months to ensure the party's victory.
Close to half of the total 543 Lok Sabha seats are bracing for multi-cornered fight this time, making the contest way more interesting and intense than it was in the 2019 elections.
Congress leaders from the Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh claimed that they have an indication from the Union home ministry on creation of a separate state.
'The TDP walking out of the NDA is a victory for the YSRCP.' 'The YSRCP wanted it to happen so that it would help them in coming elections.'
A voter turnout of over 40 per cent was recorded till 1 pm on Monday in the fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections in 96 constituencies spread over 10 states and Union Territories amid incidents of violence in Andhra Pradesh and reports of poll boycott in some villages of Uttar Pradesh.
After a marathon polling process to elect the 18th Lok Sabha that lasted for a month and a half, the results were declared on Tuesday.
The controversy has sparked reactions across states. The famous Mankameshwar temple in Uttar Pradesh has now banned offerings of 'prasad' bought by devotees from outside and said they can offer homemade 'prasad' or fruits.
President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday gave seven more days to the Andhra Pradesh assembly till January 30 to discuss and debate the draft Telangana Bill in the House before returning it to the Centre.
Megha Engineering and Infrastructure, the little-known Hyderabad-based firm that in recent years won the prestigious Zojila tunnel deal among other projects, forayed into city gas and acquired a media group, was the second largest donor to political parties using electoral bonds.
The leaders met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former party chief Rahul Gandhi in the presence of general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal and Telangana Congress chief A Revanth Reddy.
Defence Minister A K Antony, who has been briefing the Congress high command about the steps to be taken to create the state of Telangana, has stated that the party needs to make its intentions clear for the people of Andhra Pradesh.
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
A festive spirit pervaded the Andhra Pradesh Bhawan premises in New Delhi no sooner the Congress Working Committee formally endorsed the creation of Telangana.
Stating that Twitter's (in)action is tantamount to contempt of court, a division bench, comprising Chief Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice M Satyanarayana Murthy, on Monday asked why criminal proceedings could not be initiated against it.
Why weren't the chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Kerala, Maharashtra and Telangana -- all of which have borders with Karnataka -- not invited to Saturday's swearing-in ceremony, asks Shyam G Menon.
Both Chandrababu Naidu and Pawan Kalyan assured voters that they would bring jobs and industrial development to the state. Their alliance batted for a welfare-plus-development model.
The Group of Ministers on Telangana will meet in the first week of February to decide on the Centre's next course of action after Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy sought extension of the deadline for discussing and returning the statehood Bill.
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.
22 images that captures glimpses of a most unusual Indian who led the nation for 10 years.
UP's representation in the government could diminish, given the BJP's decreased seat count in that state.
What some of our leaders were up to this week.
Many experts are firm that YSR Congress party will sweep the next Andhra Pradesh elections; however, it seems highly unlikely that its chief Jaganmohan Reddy will disentangle himself from the legal mess he finds himself in anytime soon. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
Supporters of Kiran Kumar Reddy say that since the Congress has made it clear that the Telangana issue will not be raised at the AICC meet there is no point in the chief minister attending. Vicky Nanjappa reports
If the Congress reached 90, it would have a pretty good chance of holding the BJP below the 272 mark. A hundred seats will rock national politics, argues Shekhar Gupta.
According to the report, there are 16 sitting MPs and MLAs who have declared cases related to rape under Indian Penal Code Section 376, which carries a minimum sentence of 10 years and can be extend to life imprisonment.
'Women' as a political constituency appears to be an idea that has come of age. It is changing India in ways that we only dimly understand, asserts Aditi Phadnis.
Categorically ruling out the possibility of a merger with any other party at any point, YSR Congress on Saturday dared the opposition Telugu Desam Party to move a No Confidence Motion in the assembly against the Congress government in Andhra Pradesh. Addressing a press conference, party spokespersons Bajireddy Goverdhan, Vasireddy Padma, and Rehman refuted the "politically-inspired media propaganda" that YSR Congress would merge with the Congress.
Congress Member of Parliament Jaganmohan Reddy's open rebellion against his party has worsened the factional politics in Andhra Pradesh. Some political experts believe that the crack in the Congress' ranks may lead to mid-term polls, while others think that the party's top brass will issue a show-cause notice to Jagan, asking him to explain his actions.Veerappa Moily, Congress leader in charge of Andhra Pradesh, is scheduled to visit the state on Friday.
Congress member V Kishore Chandra Singh Deo could occupy the Lok Sabha Speaker's chair in case Somnath Chatterjee opts to quit his post. According to top party sources, Singh Deo, who represents the reserved Parvathipuram constituency of Andhra Pradesh, has been considered the most appropriate Congress MP to replace Chatterjee.
The TDP and the YSR Congress forced brief adjournments of Lok Sabha proceedings demanding special category status for Andhra Pradesh.
Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan on Sunday evening accepted the resignations submitted by the 24 ministers, a Raj Bhavan communique said.
Telugu Desam Party chief N Chandrababu Naidu will be sworn-in as the first chief minister of Andhra Pradesh state at a grand event at 7.27 pm on Sunday.
'The karyakartas who wanted to contest were disappointed and it took some time to explain to them why we needed an alliance.'
With the YSR Congress delivering a crushing blow to the Congress in the Andhra Pradesh by-polls, the latter will have to do some quick re-thinking to prevent itself from being booted out of the state, says Mohammed Siddique
Seeking to take the wind out of defiant Y S Jaganmohan Reddy's sails, Congress on Monday announced Rs 1 lakh each to the families of those who committed suicide in the wake of the death of then Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and his father Y S Rajasekhar Reddy.
In this interview with Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa, Rao says that he has decided to join the TRS, but would wait until Thursday night before taking a final decision.
The Andhra Pradesh Congress legislature committee unanimously passed a resolution on Friday, requesting Congress president Sonia Gandhi to choose the Congress Legislature Party leader. The resolution, moved by Kadapa member of Parliament YS Jaganmohan Reddy, was supported by 150 Members of the Legislative Assembly and 49 Members of Legislative Council
