2019 was the Bharatiya Janata Party's breakout year, when it stretched the boundaries of what was thought possible and ended up with 303 seats on its own steam. Now it is forced to play defence, on a pitch queered by too many variables, asserts Prem Panicker.
The demand for removal of Justice A K Ganguly, accused of harassing a law intern, from the post of Chairman of West Bengal Human Rights Commission, along with Telangana issue paralysed the functioning of Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
Prime minister Manmohan Singh and several Congress leaders are against the formation of a separate state but are supporting the decision in the hope that it would win the party seats in the region. Renu Mittal reports
The Congress is likely to make the Telangana issue a part of its manifesto in the forthcoming elections, reports Vicky Nanjappa
If the government chooses bifurcation it is likely to add two Rayalaseema districts -- Anantpur and Kurnool -- to Telangana, and Kadapa and Chittoor to Andhra. Vicky Nanjappa reports
After Telangana, it is the turn of the Andhra and Rayal Seema regions of Andhra Pradesh to rise up in defiance against the latest developments for the formation of a new state. In reaction to the resignations by Members of Legislative Assembly and Members of Parliament of Telangana, students of the other two regions have also started mounting pressure on elected representatives to tender their resignations to press for an united Andhra Pradesh.
Initial reports reaching Hyderabad from the region indicate the Road Transport Corporation bus services were partially affected as protesters staged dharnas in front of depots in Telangana districts, including Hyderabad.
A democracy is one, only if it has a robust Opposition. And as its actions show, the Modi-BJP combine gives two hoots for that. So, the Opposition must learn to convince people why the BJP must go. Else, it can count down to 2029, points out Shyam G Menon.
The Congress will begin the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from the violence-hit Manipur on Sunday, in what is being seen as the party's bid to set the narrative in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls and put the spotlight on issues such as unemployment, price rise and social justice.
Ministers from Andhra and Rayalseema regions of Andhra Pradesh have invited the wrath of the votaries of Telangana by calling the Telangana movement 'anti national,' 'seditious' and a 'threat to the integrity of the nation.'
Union Tourism Minister K Chiranjeevi on Thursday night resigned from his post in protest against the Union Cabinet's approval of the formation of separate Telangana, his aide said.
With the party fielding three Union ministers, besides four other MPs, as candidates in the Madhya Pradesh assembly polls, it may continue with the strategy in Rajasthan.
About 40 per cent of sitting MPs have criminal cases registered against them out of which 25 per cent have declared serious criminal cases under charges of murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping and crimes against women, according to poll rights body Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
In nearly 100 seats, the BJP stands almost no chance of winning. In 200 seats, it is a direct fight between the BJP and the Congress where the BJP has an upper hand. In 243 seats, the BJP is pitted against regional parties and it is not going to be easy. That is why 400 seats may end up as a pipe dream, states Ramesh Menon, author of Modi Demystified: The Making of a Prime Minister.
The demand for a separate Telangana rocked Parliament on Thursday with Telangana Rashtriya Samiti, Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress members from the region forcing adjournment of both Houses till noon.As soon as the Lok Sabha met for the day, TRS members K Chandrashekar Rao and M Vijayashanti rushed to the Well, demanding formation of a separate Telangana. They were supported by BJP members. A section of Congress members from Andhra Pradesh too were seen in the aisle.
The party was trounced in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and is now left with only Himachal Pradesh in the north. It is ruling in only three states on its own and is in power in Bihar and Jharkhand as a junior partner in alliance with regional parties.
Congress leader Veerappa Moily will meet the party's pro-Telangana members of Parliament and legislative assembly at 9 pm on Thursday. Moily's meeting comes in the wake of Andhra Pradesh Endowments Minister Jupallu Krishna Rao's decision of sending his resignation to Congress president Sonia Gandhi. But pro-Telangana activist are upset about the fact that Rao didn't send his resignation to the governor, as per protocol.
Grappling with the Telangana issue, Congress General Secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad on Wednesday met party chief Sonia Gandhi amid reports that an all-party meeting would be convened to find a way out to the statehood demand.
Seat sharing and campaign is likely to be top of the agenda, they added.
He said the people are looking for an alternative and the Congress' victories in Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka elections are clear proof of this.
He held two massive roadshows in Rajasthan and one in Madhya Pradesh and his entries in many of rally venues were marked by a drive through cheering supporters.
Another issue on the party's agenda is the expansion of the ruling NDA, which has seen steady depletion in the recent years with traditional BJP allies like the Janata Dal-United and Akali Dal leaving the grouping.
The Congress on Thursday renamed the Rahul Gandhi-led Manipur-Mumbai yatra starting on January 14 as the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, which will travel through 100 Lok Sabha segments in 15 states including Arunachal Pradesh, and asserted it will prove to be as 'transformative' as his earlier cross-country march.
In an embarrassment to Congress, five party Members of Parliament from Telangana on Monday launched a 48-hour sit-in at the main gate of Parliament against non-fulfilment of the promise by the United Progressive Alliance government to create a separate state out of Andhra Pradesh.
Telugu Desam Party chief N Chandrababu Naidu blamed the ruling Congress for the present state of affairs in Andhra Pradesh and asked the party to bail the state out of the crisis. "This has become such a complex issue that divisions have taken place in political parties. Congress is responsible for this and they should solve the problem," Naidu, on a tour of West Godavari and East Godavari districts in coastal Andhra, said at Tanuku.
The leaders feel that their resignations will bring pressure on the government to begin the process for Telangana.
Union minister Manish Tewari on Saturday appealed to the leaders in Andhra Pradesh to "observe forbearance" till the Congress high command was going to come out with a decision on the Telangana issue soon. The statement from Tewari came as state Congress chief Botsa Satyanarayana left for New Delhi on Saturday to discuss the Telangana statehood issue with the party high command.
In a post in Hindi on X, Gandhi accused the prime minister of twisting his words and said he was speaking about the power of which Modi was wearing the mask.
Reacting sharply to Banerjee's fulminations, the Congress struck back pointing out that Prime Minster Narendra Modi's and her stand were similar, with one seeking a 'Congress 'Mukt' (Free) India' and the other, an 'Opposition coalition sans Congress'.
Congress members of Parliament from Telangana region on Thursday attacked Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy accusing him of adopting an "uncalled for vindictive attitude" towards the people agitating for a separate state.
President Pranab Mukherjee, the former trouble-shooter of the Congress party, may informally 'guide' the Union government in drafting the bill on the creation of Telangana.
Seizures in poll-bound states see sharp rise since implementation of Model Code of Conduct.
If they wish to have any chance next year, the Congress and the alliance must quickly settle all issues, draw up an alternative agenda, and create a cohesive campaign.
Amid criticism that the Congress had given a walkover to Irani in Amethi, sources said, the party in its wisdom believed that Rae Bareli's historical, emotional and electoral importance for the Gandhi family was higher than that of Amethi.
Sitting Congress MP Madhu Yaskhi Goud, who played a crucial role in passing the Telangana bill in Parliament, is up against TRS chief K Chandrashekhar Rao's daughter. However, one cannot simply rule out the chances of E Lakshminarayana, the popular BJP leader who is also in the fray. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
The BJP has dropped C T Ravi, a leader from Karnataka, Dilip Saikia, a Lok Sabha MP from Assam, as its general secretaries, and Vinod Sonkar, Harish Dwivedi, both Lok Sabha MPs from Uttar Pradesh, and Sunil Deodhar as secretaries.
President Pranab Mukherjee created a flutter in the Congress party by agreeing to meet 40 Congress MLAs from Andhra Pradesh.
Bharatiya Janata Party's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi was in all praises for Telugu superstar turned politician Pawan Kalyan. Sharing the stage with him at a rally in Nizamabad, Modi said, "As long as there are people like Pawan, the Telugu spirit will never die."
The fresh additions come a little more than six months after his earlier cabinet expansion on February 19.
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