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.
Telangana Rashtra Samithi President K Chandrasekhar Rao on Sunday sought to douse the controversy over his remarks that state government employees from Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra working in Telangana should go back to their respective regions, saying no one need go anywhere.
The Election Commission on Saturday announced the dates for the Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram assembly polls.
Sources said Modi also called up various leaders, including Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, Dravida Munnetra Kazagham's M K Stalin and Shiromani Akali Dal leader Parkash Singh Badal.
KCR said he had turned down the Left parties' idea of dislodging the ruling BJP at the Centre.
Cine actress and Telangana Rashtra Samithi MP M Vijaya Shanthi on Thursday joined Congress at a time when the possibility of TRS merging with Congress seemed to have hit a roadblock.
Stalin said Rao had not visited Tam for forging alliances.
In a letter to the Karnataka chief secretary, the Commission said the state government did not obtain prior approval from it for publishing the advertisements, an action violative of the poll code instructions issued to central and state governments years ago.
The two chief ministers had lunch together and discussed various issues, including the current political situation in the country.
Telangana Rashtra Samithi MLA Ramesh Chennamaneni, who was re-elected to the Telangana assembly from the Vemulawada constituency last year, received a notice from the home ministry cancelling the Indian citizenship for concealing facts pertaining to his visits to India during the 12-month period immediately preceding his application seeking citizenship.
"It is high time India traded dynasty for meritocracy. This would require fundamental reforms, from imposing legally mandated term limits to requiring meaningful internal party elections, together with a concerted effort to educate and empower the electorate to choose leaders based on merit," Tharoor said.
Kavitha, daughter of party founder and former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR), also announced quitting as Member of the Legislative Council and indicated there was 'pressure' on her father to act against her.
Opposition parties have not been given the chairmanship of any of the four key parliamentary panels including the committee on home affairs and information technology, which were with the Congress, in the latest rejig announced on Tuesday.
K Laxman, a Bharatiya Janata Party leader raised a storm after he dubbed tennis ace Sania Mirza "Pakistan's daughter-in-law" after it was announced that Mirza would be the brand ambassador of Telangana.
According to some observers, the Congress gained ground by attracting votes from Telugu Desam Party sympathisers after the TDP opted out of the race due to its own reasons.
Replying to the Motion of Thanks to the President's address, Modi in the Rajya Sabha had referred to the manner in which Telangana was formed.
'There is no proposal to scrap the provision under the IPC dealing with the offence of sedition'
The decision to pull out of the contest and support BJP was taken in the larger interests of Telangana and Hyderabad, a Jana Sena release quoted Kalyan as saying.
Dismissing speculation of Telangana throwing up a fractured verdict, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi on Friday asserted it would form government with a decisive majority without anybody's support on the back of "strong undercurrent and silent wave".
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said his party humbly accepts the mandate of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, and asserted that the battle of ideology would continue.
In order to pacify the dissidents, the party's central leadership had to replace Bandi Sanjay Kumar with Union Minister G Kishan Reddy as state president of the BJP.
Civil Aviation Minister Pusapati Ashok Gajapathi Raju has announced that the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamshabad will be renamed after the former chief minister. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
Condemning the alleged attack during the state-wide padayatra called praja prasthanam taken up by her in Warangal district on Monday, the YSR Telangana Party chief marched towards the chief minister's camp office.
Maharashtra is the BRS' first target.
Surprisingly, the BJP's nearest rival in ad spend was not the Congress, but the Bharat Rashtra Samithi.
In a big organisational rejig, the BJP named Union minister G Kishan Reddy, Sunil Jakhar and Babulal Marandi as party presidents in Telangana, Punjab and Jharkhand respectively.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear on March 24 a plea by K Kavitha, Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader and daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, seeking protection from arrest and challenging the summons by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case arising out of the alleged Delhi excise policy scam.
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, known for his penchant for rarely used, difficult-to-pronounce English words, on Friday threw in another head scratcher -- floccinaucinihilipilification.
Singh claimed that the state police set up the website to trap Muslims youths and it is "radicalising and encouraging them to become ISIS modules".
Wednesday is a historic day for the 2.8 crore voters from Telangana as they exercise their franchise for electing the first government of the new state that will formally come into existence on June 2.
"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.
KTR indirectly referred to the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said the country does not need opposition unity on the basis of blind hatred against one party or one man, but on a positive model of governance
What are the political equations, the challenges, and the threats?
The construction of office-cum-residential buildings has been taken up in 104 assembly constituencies in the state except 15 segments in Hyderabad, it added.
Kanugolu had also made forays in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh following a directive from the party's central leadership but regional satraps Ashok Gehlot and Kamal Nath reportedly were not on the same page as the poll strategist.
The election campaign in Telangana was similar to a violent Telugu movie laced with the choicest of dialogues, says Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa
It will be clear whether the voters preferred the Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao-led regime for a third term or the "six guarantees" by the Congress worked any miracles or the BJP's BC chief minister 'mantra' wooed the electors or if there will be a fractured verdict, by tomorrow evening.
The Congress's strategy is to get the bill passed in the Rajya Sabha and then try its luck in the Lok Sabha, where it is unsure of the Bharatiya Janata party's support for it. This, say sources, is the GoM's face-saver plan, as the Rajya Sabha's okay will keep the Bill alive for the 16th Lok Sabha.
Stronger the pitch of various states, the better for India as a country. The two states plan to showcase their improved 'ease of doing business rankings'.
Naidu informed the House that he had received letters from Singh and 13 other MPs seeking leave of absence on medical grounds.
