A total of 74,44,260 voters will exercise their franchise using ballot papers to elect their representatives.
The Union home minister said he firmly believed that Article 370 that gave the special status to Jammu and Kashmir should be removed as it was not beneficial to the country.
Chances of holding early assembly polls in Telangana and Seema-Andhra, along with the Lok Sabha elections, seem unlikely, says Renu Mittal
As the Congress and United Progressive Alliance government appear to be veering towards formation of a separate Telangana state, ministers and MPs from Andhra and Rayalaseema regions met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday opposing any division of Andhra Pradesh.
Dismissing as baseless Kitex group chairman Sabu Jacob's allegation that the atmosphere in Kerala is not industry-friendly, state Industries Minister P Rajeev on Wednesday said his government stands for "responsible investment" and the southern state would be made a destination of such investments in few years. In an exclusive interview to PTI, Rajeev said the focus of the government is to attract green industries and IT-based industries in Kerala as land scarcity and environmental issues associated with it have been a problem in the state. "We are always taking a stand in favour of investment, in favour of industries. But our need is that--investment should be responsible. We stand for responsible investment," said Rajeev, who represents Kalamassery-an industrial hub in Kerala--in the state Assembly. Elaborating on responsible investment, the minister said it is a strategy and practice to incorporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in investment decisions.
Gandhi kicked off his 15-km padyatra from Koritical village in Adilabad district to highlight the problems faced by farmers.
Defending its three-capital decision, the government said since inception in 1956 the state had failed to integrate people from all regions, reports B Dasarath Reddy.
With the Lok Sabha passing the reorganisation bill, Kalvakuntla Chandrasekhar Rao now finds himself at the brink of a new history. Prashanth Chintala reports
The Winter Session of Parliament usually starts in November. However, it would be the second year in a row when it would begin in December.
The decision to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh has "zero" electoral prospects and it will be a "death blow" to the Congress, Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy has claimed.
Amid speculation over a possible merger of his party with Congress or the forging of a likely alliance between the two, Telangana Rashtra Samiti chief K Chandrasekhar Rao on Sunday met Sonia Gandhi, but said that no politics was discussed during their interaction.
While seven of the suspended MPs belonged to the TMC, six were from the DMK, three from the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, two from the Communist Party of India-Marxist and one from the Communist Party of India.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Friday discussed the strategy to be adopted in the monsoon session of the Parliament on issues such as Telangana and proposed amendments in the Right to Information Act.
'The farm bills will not bring in corporate zamindari'
Modi told the leaders that Tomar was just a phone call away for protesting farmers and the agriculture minister had conveyed the same to farmer leaders earlier this month.
Twenty two legislators belonging to the Telangana Rashtra Samithi and the Bharatiya Janata Party along with two independent MLAs associated with them were on Monday suspended from the Andhra Pradesh assembly for two days for constantly disrupting proceedings of the House on the Telangana statehood issue.
Addressing a 'fateh' (victory) rally with leaders from the ally Shiromani Akali Dal on the dais, the Gujarat chief minister, who donned a saffron turban, also dismissed as "rumours and a pack of lies" the controversy about migration of Sikh farmers from Kutch region in his state, promising that no Sikh farmer will have to leave Gujarat.
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The demands for frisking of MPs while entering Parliament, triggered after the 'pepper spray' attack by one of them last week, fizzled out on Monday with a Parliamentary Committee deciding against making such a recommendation.
While the likelihood of these states going the Lanka or Greece way may be an alarming assessment, the financial situation of some states such as Punjab and West Bengal is indeed quite weak.
With the supporters of separate Telangana state hell bent upon their Million March program on Thursday, Hyderabad city has been effectively cut off from the other parts of Telangana as the police have sealed all the entry and exit points and was on the spree of rounding up thousands of people to foil their protest programme.
Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu also made a fervent appeal to the leaders of various parties at an all-party meeting to ensure smooth and effective functioning of the House during the Budget Session.
Apart from debating the Rayal-Telangana issue, the Group of Ministers that meets on Wednesday night at 8 pm, will also look into the demand to make Hyderabad a Union Territory.
The rebellion against the Congress in Andhra Pradesh is out in the open. Last week, Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy openly called Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi deaf and dumb, and on Monday, six members of Parliament have decided to issue notice for a no-confidence motion.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-Telugu Desam Party alliance in Andhra Pradesh has run into rough weather over seat sharing.
NDA ally, the TDP continued to disrupt the both Houses of the Parliament over demand for special status to Andhra Pradesh.
"It is just an announcement; the real celebrations will begin once the bill is passed in the Parliament," Telangana Rashtra Samithi chief K Chandrasekara Rao said.
This after high drama in the House over what opposition charged was "intimidation" by the treasury benches to get the motion for sending the amendment to the RTI Act to the select committee rejected.
In a bid to stall the formation of Telangana, leaders from Seemandhra region have decided to move the Supreme Court. This decision comes in the wake of a public interest litigation filed by the group on Friday which was admitted by the Andhra Pradesh high court.
The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs took the decision to extend the session till September 6 at a meeting held in Parliament House.
Most exit polls have forecast gains for Congress in at least four states including a clear majority in Rajasthan.
What these elections prove beyond any doubt (if ever there was one) that Modi's hold over public mind and Shah's mastery of election management are unparalleled. It doesn't seem likely that they will be matched any time soon in the Indian political scene, reaffirms Shreekant Sambrani.
From social engineering to bearing the cost of COVID-19 treatment to financial reconstruction of Tamil Nadu's debt the debutant chief minister is emerging as a leader with a difference, says Shjne Jacob
The BJP-led NDA now has nearly 100 members in the 245-member House. If the support of friendly parties like the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (9), Biju Janata Dal (9), Yuvajana Shramika Rythu Congress Party (6), and several allied nominated members and smaller parties is counted, then the Modi government is unlikely to face any serious numerical challenge there.
On the final day of his two-day visit to India's financial capital, Congres vice president Rahul Gandhi tried to connect with Mumbaikars by raising the issue of high electricity bills en route his padyatra from National College, Bandra to Dharavi, Asia's largest slum colony.
Here are some features of the home.
Even though the Congress leadership is deeply embarrassed over Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy's unwavering opposition to the formation of Telangana, party president Sonia Gandhi is not in favour of imposing central rule in the state.
A pepper spray was used, a mic yanked. MPs put on the worst show ever in the Parliament.
A pepper spray was used, a mic yanked. MPs put on the worst show ever in the Parliament.
The Congress VP attacked the PM and said that the party would not let the BJP proceed on the land bill.
