The estimated costs of these weddings start from Rs 100 crore and go up to Rs 700 crore.
Holi was celebrated with pomp and splendor across India on Friday, with people soaking in the festivities by smearing 'gulaal' on each other and exchanging greetings and sweets. Homes and streets wore a colourful look as the revellers splashed colours and feasted on traditional delicacies. Public transport did not ply in the morning in most major cities while metro services started functioning from noon. As Holi coincided with the second Friday prayers during the holy Islamic month of Ramzan, security -- including increased patrolling and picketing -- was beefed up in several states. In Delhi, more than 25,000 security personnel were deployed. Police closely monitored about 300 sensitive areas with CCTV cameras and drones.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance was surging ahead in two southern states -- Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka -- while the respective blocs led by the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam in Tamil Nadu and Congress in Kerala were on their way for another excellent show, going by the latest trends emerging from the counting of voted polled in the just concluded Lok Sabha polls.
Despite the towering image of BRS supremo and Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, along with the party's extensive grassroots network and welfare programmes, the perceived inaccessibility of its leaders contributed to the growing anti-incumbency sentiments.
Lakshmi Parvathy, wife of the TDP founder late NT Rama Rao, has warned popular Telugu actor and NTR's grand son Junior NTR against campaigning for Chandrababu Naidu, saying it will destroy his future forever.
Scores of people scrambled for milk and food packets in flood-ravaged Vijayawada on Monday, and also complained about alleged government apathy towards their hardships in the past three days.
There is little doubt that the prime minister's own charisma exceeds that of his party, but 2024 is proof that no party can ultimately depend on one person to deliver victory all the time, points out R Jagannathan.
While Andhra Pradesh is expected to receive Rs 15,000 crore to Rs 20,000 crore, Bihar is likely to get Rs 5,000 crore to Rs 10,000 crore in FY25.
"I lost my close friend. Sivaprasad fought relentlessly for the rights of AP. His death is loss not only to Chittoor district but also the entire state," Chandrababu said.
India will find a place among the world powers with Narendra Modi at the helm and the 'real competition' for the country will be the United States and China, former National Democratic Alliance convener and Telugu Desam party chief Chandrababu Naidu said on Tuesday as he hailed the prime minister-elect.
According to highly placed sources, the Centre does not want to get in to any controversy over the phone tapping issue.
Uddhav Thackeray claimed the new Narendra Modi government at the Centre, which was sworn in on June 9, will collapse and will be replaced by an INDIA bloc dispensation.
The state's economic health is in focus as it has consistently breached the fiscal deficit in eight of the last 10 years since Telangana's formation.
The CBI will now have all powers to take up corruption and other cases in AP.
The BJP's year has been marked by a remarkable ability to adapt its message and methods, rebounding from Lok Sabha election setbacks with improbable wins in Haryana and Maharashtra. The party's campaign machine, drawing on the strength of the RSS and its affiliates, has demonstrated a capacity to shift focus and respond to regional dynamics. While the BJP faces challenges, its adaptability and Modi's unchallenged leadership suggest a continued strong presence on the Indian political landscape.
The Supreme Court on Friday set up a five-member independent SIT to probe the allegations of animal fat used in preparing Tirupati laddus to "assuage the feelings of crores of people" while making clear that the court cannot be used as a "political battleground".
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.
Telugu Desam Party general secretary Nara Lokesh has promised to establish an Islamic Bank for the Muslim community of Andhra Pradesh on coming to power.
YSR Congress Party chief Y S Jaganmohan Reddy said the wave in favour of Narendra Modi played a role in his party's defeat in the Seemandhra region, where the Telugu Desam Party-Bharatiya Janata Party combine swept to power.
He will be around for another crack at the elections, and a clear majority, predicts Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Former Karnataka Chief Minister S M Krishna passed away at his residence in Bengaluru early Tuesday morning, his family said.
With erstwhile Congress leaders likely to get drubbed in the region, the battle for Seemandhra is all about the Telugu Desam Party and the YSR Congress. While it's a crucial election for TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu, who might end up taking political sanyas if the results don't go his favour, YSR Congress president Jaganmohan Reddy will leave no stone unturned to become the first chief minister of the region.
Factors such as anti-incumbency, voter fatigue, and dissatisfaction among the youth contributed mainly to the poor showing of Bharat Rashtra Samithi in the Telangana legislative assembly election on Sunday.
Chandrababu Naidu's latest announcement that the Telugu Desam Party would be a part of the just-conceived "Federal Front", on Thursday took senior party leaders by surprise as it currently maintains a cordial relationship with the Left.
'There will be no change of seats for Delhi, Assam and Maharashtra.' 'Andhra, J&K, Kerala, Punjab, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, West Bengal and Telangana will lose seats while there will be an increase for MP, UP, Bihar, Haryana, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh.' 'It is a big mistake if you make it a north-south issue.'
Amid reports that Telugu Desam Party is cosying up to National Democratic Alliance, party chief N Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday shared the stage with Bharatiya Janata Party's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi at a programme in New Delhi and heaped praise on the erstwhile Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.
If she cannot recast the party, bring together the factions opposed to her, and present herself as her brother's true challenger, there will be little left for her in politics, notes Aditi Phadnis.
As per Mashable, Zain, who had been born with cerebral palsy, died on Monday at the age of 26.
Modi was born on September 17, 1950 in a small town in Gujarat.
Banerjee said the prime minister will now have to move around the country and also abroad with two crutches.
The Telugu Desam Party-Bharatiya Janata Party combine on Friday appeared set for an impressive performance in Seemandhra by leading in about 90 Assembly seats, followed by YSR Congress in around 70, out of the total 175 seats in the region.
Campaigning for May 13 elections in 96 Lok Sabha constituencies across 10 states and Union territories including all seats in Andhra Pradesh, where assembly elections are also being held concurrently, and Telangana concluded on Saturday evening.
'KCR's plan for the future is three-pronged. He wants to see a non-Congress, non-BJP government at the Centre in 2019 so that he can become the Union minister for home or defence,' says R Rajagopalan.
Flaying the 'pomp and show' associated with the 'coronation' of N Chandrababu Naidu, Jaganmohan Reddy, chief of YSR Congress party, on Saturday said he does not want to be part of the extravagant swearing-in ceremony when Andhra Pradesh is in deep crisis.
Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu on Monday began an indefinite fast in New Delhi to protest against the split of Andhra Pradesh, accusing the Congress of playing politics in view of the Lok Sabha polls, but remained ambivalent on Telangana.
It will be in Modi's interest to reinvent his party, read the writing on the wall that voters wrote, and move ahead. He has little choice now. The country is watching, asserts Ramesh Menon.
The action came hours after Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu asked the TDP ministers to resign from the Union Cabinet.
Telugu Desam Party President N Chandrababu Naidu tonight urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to break his silence and take a "proactive role" in resolving the concerns and do justice to all over the proposed bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.
Granting SCS to the state has been a long-pending demand of the JD-U supremo and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, whose Bihar cabinet had even passed a resolution last year requesting the Centre to grant SCS to the state.
Will Parliament function on tenth day of second leg of budget session.
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