'We face problems due to attacks by elephants at our homes inside the forest. We won't cast vote this time. There is no use of participating in elections'
Meanwhile, the AP CM said that the TDP is ready to bring no-trust motion against Centre as last resort.
'We will meet each villager in Kerala and chalk out a massive agitation plan to protect the Sabarimala temple.'
In his weekly column 'Rokhthok' in the party mouthpiece Saamana, Raut said state Chief Minister and Sena president Uddhav Thackeray in his address to Shiv Sainiks on January 23 had turned the tables on the BJP, which was criticising him over his illness.
However, the AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the SC committee has limited terms of reference and 'cannot bring out the deep nexus between' the prime minister and the billionaire businessman.
Parallel to this, the ruling Telugu Desam has been organising rallies across the state in solidarity with its MPs.
Some of the Congress's new-found enthusiasm for hitting the streets will show its result in the Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, and Karnataka elections. That is when we will know if the Congress will go to the regional parties or the parties will come to the Congress.
Jaganmohan Reddy will be sworn in as chief minister on May 30.
Telugu superstar and Union minister Chiranjeveei, who merged his Praja Rajyam Party with the Congress, is surely having problems with his brother Pawan Kalyan, another popular film star. The latter, who never agreed with his elder brother's decision to join Congress, has now decided to float a new party to make certain electoral gains in the politically sensitive Seema-Andhra region. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
Telugu superstar and Union minister Chiranjeveei, who merged his Praja Rajyam Party with the Congress, is surely having problems with his brother Pawan Kalyan, another popular film star. The latter, who never agreed with his elder brother's decision to join Congress, has now decided to float a new party to make certain electoral gains in the politically sensitive Seema-Andhra region. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
The BJP at 43 is a work in progress, with total ideological continuity and much substantive change in political method and style, observes Shekhar Gupta.
'Rahul is also coming there... from Amethi. We will meet there.'
The five-state assembly elections are seen as a now-or-never, no-holds battle for the Congress, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Reddy alone will take oath on Thursday while his Council of Ministers is likely to be constituted on June 7, party sources said.
The TDP supremo said he had not contacted any party yet but given the 'TDP's credibility' they were supporting the no-trust motion.
A day after various exit polls predicted Opposition Communist Party of India-Marxist-led Left Democratic Front coming to power in Kerala, ruling Congress-led United Democratic Front leaders shrugged it off
The Maharashtra government has decided to reduce the value added tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel by Rs 5 and Rs 3 per litre respectively, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said in Mumbai on Thursday.
17 MLAs of the TDP were suspended from the assembly for disrupting CM Jagan Mohan Reddy's address on the Andhra Pradesh Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Bill, 2020.
In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the BJP is looking to fill the Opposition slot and not aspire to occupy pole position.
Rao's death triggered a political slugfest in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh with the Telugu Desam Party holding the Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government there responsible for the veteran leader's suspected suicide.
Adityanath says there is no scope for political violence in democracy.
During the day-long debate, the lines between science and religion often got blurred with many invoking religious texts and the contribution of 'rishi munis' to highlight India's tryst with the extra-terrestrial world.
"To everyone worried about my safety, Id like to inform you that I am safe. Gods grace and the love, concern and blessings of the people of Andhra Pradesh will protect me. "Such cowardice will not dissuade me but only strengthen my resolve to work for the people of my state," Reddy tweeted upon his arrival in Hyderabad.
Modi, while speaking at a poll rally in Gujarat on Sunday, had sought to link the dinner meeting hosted by Aiyar for Pakistani dignitaries and attended by Manmohan Singh, among others, with the ongoing assembly polls and a conspiracy against the BJP.
Shah also attacked the Congress and said "the party was finished in the country due to corruption and family rule."
The saffron party will use Lord Ayyappa the same way it made use of Lord Ram in the north to take away the Nair vote and make electoral inroads in the state.
The third phase of Lok Sabha elections scheduled for Tuesday will see the maximum number of seats going to the polls in a single phase -- 117 across 15 states and Union Territories. It will also be a test for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party which will aim to defend the maximum number of seats at 62. This time the BJP will be tested in its bastion Gujarat -- where polling will be held for all the 26 Lok Sabha seats in the state -- apart from Karanataka, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh, where the party had done well in 2014. Here are some of the big political leaders' who await their fate on Tuesday.
She said there were attempts to communalise the guru's teachings and this amounts to 'betraying' him.
Come May 16, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance will have more seats from Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh than any formation mustered by the Congress, notes T V R Shenoy.
As round one of the seven-phase Lok Sabha election began in 91 constituencies across the length and breadth of India, from the hills of Kashmir to the islands of Andaman and Nicobar, reports of unrest and irregularities cast shadows over the world's biggest poll process.
Protesting beef fests organised by political parties and organisations, a Hindu outfit in Coimbatore on Monday said it would stage a counter-agitation serving pork meat.
A total of 1,203 candidates, including 109 women, are contesting for the 140 assembly seats in which a total of 2.61 crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise.
Will N Chandrababu Naidu's son Lokesh be able to manage the old guard the way his father did?
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.
'Slaughter of cows will be opposed by all parties in UP, Gujarat, Rajasthan, etc while it is different in Kerala, Goa and the north east.' 'Every national party adapts and take a view on various issues depending on the local situation and the feelings of the local people.' 'So, the Kerala BJP will look at each issue from the Kerala perspective, and not that of UP.'
The BJP scripted history by opening its account in the state assembly.
Unlike the LDF and NDA nominees who are at ground zero and campaigning hard every day, the Congress candidate's campaign is undertaken in absentia, dependent on an army of local and imported from the rest of Kerala Congresswomen and men.
Modi's NDA is good enough to give a psychological boost to the once 'untouchable' BJP and Modi but if the NDA doesn't get a majority on its own, then walking the last mile will be the greatest challenge of this election for Modi, says Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com
The last leg of poll campaign saw many national leaders canvassing for their parties.
'It is our aim to capture power and rule in Kerala. We may not be able to achieve our target in one attempt.' 'By just hammering once, you will not be able to break a rock; you need to hammer the rock several times.'
