The Congress top brass late Thursday night assured its agitating legislators of Andhra Pradesh that "no whip" will be issued to vote in favour of a separate statehood resolution, if and when it comes in the Assembly.
Khera told reporters in Hyderabad that the views of the newly-elected MLAs have been elicited and the central leadership is seized of the matter.
The prospect of an upset worries the ruling Congress in Andhra Pradesh as it faces a threat from a rebel candidate in the biennial election to Rajya Sabha slated for Friday.
Dashing the last hopes of the Congress high command, Telangana Rashtra Samiti President K Chandrasekhar Rao on Saturday categorically ruled out even an electoral alliance with the party for the forthcoming polls to the Lok Sabha and the state assembly.
The ruling Telugu Desam party is trying to take advantage of the anxiety of Telangana Rashtra Samiti over the coming by elections to 12 assembly seats in Telangana region. While the TRS was hoping that all the MLAs who had resigned in support of Telangana state will be re-elected unanimously and no other party will enter the fray, Congress and Telugu Desam have queered the pitch by declaring their intentions to contest the by elections.
The BJP, which rules the Centre, is in power in Uttarakhand, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Goa, Assam, Tripura, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, and is all set to get Madhya Pradesh back and snatch Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh from the Congress after today's vote count.
As many as 35 of 53 Nationalist Congress Party MLAs were present at the party meeting convened by Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar in Mumbai on Wednesday, party sources said.
Andhra leaders are readying for a stormy session over Telangana tomorrow. Vicky Nanjappa reports
Only 18 Bharatiya Janata Party legislators switched parties to contest the polls in this period
The MLAs of the ruling JMM-led alliance exuded confidence of winning the floor test, while the opposition BJP asserted that the coalition would be defeated.
The Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly was on Thursday abruptly adjourned till January 3 without even initiating the crucial debate on draft AP Re-organisation Bill-2013 that provides for the creation of a new state of Telangana.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's tally in Rajya Sabha has dipped below 90 for the first time in several years but the party and its allies are expected to not only recoup the their losses but also make some gains when by-elections to fill the existing vacancies are held in the coming weeks.
This will pave the way for emergence of 24,000 new panchayat-level leaders in Telangana, he said.
It should announce its candidates 45 days before the elections; trust rooted leaders; start its campaign focused on five guarantees six months before elections.
'The government does not want to be transparent or accountable. Therefore, they do not want to appoint information commissioners.'
The Telangana issue assumed centre stage on Thursday night as Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily held consultations with Congress members of Legislative Assembly and members of Parliament. Though a lot of hope was pinned by the Telangana leaders on this meeting there was absolutely no decision taken on issue of statehood, say insiders. However, the mass resignation programme by these elected representatives will be put on hold till the assembly elections in five states.
A message from KCR on Thursday evening persuaded the Congress to take its MLAs to Hyderabad.
'Barring Tamil Nadu and Kerala, the BJP will may make inroads in Karnataka, Andhra and Telangana in 2024.'
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.
Apparently embarrassed by the resignation of two party Members of Legislative Assembly from Telangana to protest the Terms of Reference of the Sri Krishna committee, the Congress high command has summoned the two legislators to Delhi for talks.R Damodar Reddy and Ch Mutyam Reddy left for the national capital on Tuesday to hold talks with Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily, in-charge of party affairs in Andhra Pradesh, and other leaders.
The BJP has the maximum number of such politicians.
Even as legislators of the Telugu Desam Party and the Telangana Rashtra Samiti hailing from Telangana region decided to go ahead with their resignations in support of a separate state on Friday, the Congress group from the region softened its stand and on Tuesday aborted its visit to New Delhi to pressurise the party high command.
With the Congress leadership reportedly inching towards a favourable decision on Telangana statehood demand, a party member of Legislative Assembly and several YSR Congress legislators from non-Telangana regions on Thursday said they have "resigned" in support of united Andhra Pradesh.
KCR is now having to resort to the lowest common denominator in elections: Reservations.
Congress Members of Parliament and members of Legislative Assembly from Telangana on Monday slammed Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and accused him of weakening the party in the region that is witnessing an agitation for statehood. The MPs also condemned the "repressive measures" against Telangana protagonists and alleged that the chief minister's actions were "provoking" people of the region.
Jharkhand Governor C P Radhakrishnan on Thursday nominated Jharkhand Mukti Morcha legislative party leader Champai Soren as the chief minister and invited him to take the oath, capping a day of fast-paced developments.
The nomination is an indication that the veteran Congress leader is not sure of victory from Raebareli, the Lok Sabha constituency she has represented for five terms.
Demanding that Centre make an announcement of formation of Telangana state by June 25, the Telangana political Joint Action Committee on Thursday said the members of Parliament and members of legislative assembly of the ruling Congress and opposition Telugu Desam Party should resign if this did not happen.
Three ministers from Andhra-Rayalaseema regions submitted their resignations to Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy late on Thursday night even as at least 15 others are understood to have backed out following a stern warning by the high command.
Amid a political crisis in Jharkhand, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha legislative party leader Champai Soren on Wednesday called on Governor C P Radhakrishnan and urged him to accept his claim to form the government at the earliest.
Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday filed her nomination papers in Jaipur for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls from Rajasthan.
If Meena resigns, it is likely to put pressure on other ministers whose areas also saw poor performance in the general elections.
Counting of votes will be held on Sunday in assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Telangana in what is seen as a semi-final contest ahead of the general elections in less than six months.
Congress Members of Legislative Assembly from Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra on Monday decided to mount pressure on Members of Parliament from the regions to quit their posts and fight against the proposed division of Andhra Pradesh.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had, in fact, campaigned for him in the segment.
Call it the art of staying rooted yet bending with prevailing political winds. With Telangana going to the polls in December, and assembly and Lok Sabha elections in Andhra and Odisha scheduled next year, what factors have influenced parties' recent moves?
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.
The Congress may stand a better chance in the assembly polls if it followed the 'Himachal model', suggests N Sathiya Moorthy.
Bandh demanding statehood for Telangana, protests on streets and shutdown in the state is what Andhra has been witnessing for years now. But what is it that makes Tuesday's agitation different? Vicky Nanjappa analyses
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