In a major organisational rejig ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the Congress on Saturday appointed Avinash Pande the general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh, replacing Priyanka Gandhi Vadra while Sachin Pilot was made the general secretary in-charge of Chhattisgarh.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy on Tuesday held discussions with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on the issue of Telangana.Reddy, who was called to the capital by the Congress high command on Monday, is understood to have briefed Dr Singh about the prevailing political and law and order situation in the state.
In an unprecedented action in state legislature history, Andhra Pradesh Assembly Speaker Nadendla Manohar on Friday night disqualified 16 MLAs of ruling Congress who had voted against the party government during a no-trust motion in December last year sailing with expelled Congress leader Y S Jaganmohan Reddy.
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.
What some of our leaders were up to on Thursday, October 5, 2023.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Home Minister P Chidambaram on Saturday elicited the views of their junior cabinet colleagues and Congress leaders from Andhra Pradesh on the Telangana statehood demand, which has virtually divided the party on regional lines.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah on Wednesday resigned ahead of the Congress Legislature Party meeting in Hyderabad.
With many of its plans to break the impasse over the Telangana issue coming unstuck, the Congress is now reportedly toying with the idea of moving a resolution on the statehood demand in the next session of Andhra Pradesh assembly.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has begun consultations with its allies on the ruling National Democratic Alliance's candidate for the Lok Sabha Speaker's post while the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) is considering its options and may force a contest to score political points, sources said on Monday, a day before the filing of nomination for the key position.
Though electoral verdicts have historically been accepted, even though grudgingly, by all parties, there has been a sharper edge to the questions being raised by Opposition parties this time over the polling process, including the Election Commission.
'The prime minister's comment on 'revdi culture' was welcome. But I am disappointed he did not follow up on that.' 'All political parties, including the BJP, have been guilty of this.' 'Now, Modi's guarantees, the Congress's 'nyay' path and both ruling and Opposition parties are vying with each other for freebies in my home state Andhra Pradesh.'
The no-confidence motion moved by the opposition Telugu Desam against the N Kiran Kumar Reddy-led Congress government in Andhra Pradesh is by no means of only academic interest. Though the government is unlikely to fall -- as the numerical strength of the ruling and opposition parties suggest -- the outcome of the division on the motion is likely to have a far reaching impact on the politics of the state.
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.
The development amid the crisis in the state over the Telangana statehood issue triggered demands that the 86-year-old Governor resign or be dismissed and also protests by women activists outside the Raj Bhavan where security was beefed up after the private Telugu channel aired the footage.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy is in New Delhi to seek Congress High Command's advice on the fate of ministers who are under CBI scanner in connection with disproportionate assets case against Y S Jaganmohan Reddy.
After being summoned, the minister appeared before the agency which questioned him regarding the Government Orders (GOs) issued during 2004-09 by the Irrigation Department, when he was the major Irrigation minister in the cabinet of late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, on supply of water to manufacturing plants of some cement firms. These firms allegedly made investments in Jagan's businesses.
'Elections and audience interest in specific movies are often independent factors.'
Senior leader P Chidambaram whose Rajya Sabha tenure is ending from Maharashtra is under consideration from Tamil Nadu as the Congress is all set to get the support of alliance partner the DMK. The G-23 leaders, including Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma and Vivek Tankha, are also said to be in contention.
There seems to be no respite for YSR Congress chief Jaganmohan Reddy as the Andhra Pradesh high court on Wednesday rejected his bail plea in the disproportionate assets case.
If Meena resigns, it is likely to put pressure on other ministers whose areas also saw poor performance in the general elections.
High drama was witnessed in Lok Sabha on Thursday as an exasperated government brought a motion to suspend 11 members from Andhra Pradesh, including seven from Congress, for protesting over Telangana issue, but an aggressive opposition scuttled the move.
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.
Sharmila said it was her father's dream to see Rahul Gandhi as prime minister and she would be happy to contribute to it.
The move comes a day after the government called a special session of Parliament between September 18 and 22, the agenda for which is under wraps.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress on Sunday were set to share the honours in the Lok Sabha and assembly bye-elections in 13 states.
Andhra Pradesh Home Minister Sabita Indra Reddy was named by the Central Bureau of Investigation as one of the accused in its fifth chargesheet in connection with the disproportionate assets case against YSR Congress chief Jaganmohan Reddy.
The preferred format would be for the top BJP leadership in the government to reach out to the alliance leaders on a case-to-case basis.
The "jinxed" chair of Speaker, Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly will be occupied by Kiran Kumar Reddy, a vocal Congress leader known for his opposition baiting.
Amid a stand-off with Congress leadership, rebel Andhra Pradesh MP Y S Jaganmohan Reddy on Monday resigned from his Lok Sabha seat and announced his decision to quit the party alleging that the Congress "humiliated" his family and tried to drive a "wedge" in it.
K Rosaiah, who resigned as the chief minister earlier in the day, had moved the resolution. Rosaiah's resolution had become imminent because of conflicting claims by different groups and regions that the new leader should by of their choice.
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.
'BJP was always there in my blood, but due to some reasons I had gone out, but today I feel I have come back to my mother's lap. Looking at my brothers here, I don't feel like I'm coming back to the BJP office after 13 years'
Tamil Nadu's Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin has reacted to Andhra Pradesh counterpart Pawan Kalyan's out-of-turn taunts with a one-liner, 'Let's wait', and thereby hangs a tale, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is likely to get a majority in the Rajya Sabha in April this year, once the remaining six vacancies under the nominated category are filled and those newly elected take oath.
Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu, while supporting the decision of the Congress and the United Progressive Alliance to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh demanded that the Central government should come out with immediate plans to build a new capital for Andhra Pradesh by earmarking Rs 10 lakh crore for the purpose.
Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, BJP chief J P Nadda and new party entrant Ashok Chavan and Union ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw and L Murugan were among the 41 candidates elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha on Tuesday while Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh will witness polling on February 27.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Thursday dismissed reports of divisions within the ruling Congress on the emotive Telangana issue and asked everyone to wait till the Justice BN Srikrishna Committee report on the statehood issue is released on Thursday.
Jaganmohan Reddy hopes for a hung Parliament to 'extract a better deal' for Andhra Pradesh, and says his party will sweep all 25 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
Many Congress leaders from Andhra Pradesh are up in arms against Union Minister Vayalar Ravi for being rude to them when the Telangana statehood was raised.