Thirty two members of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly of the Telugu Desam Party on Wednesday submitted their resignations to the deputy speaker, protesting the delay in the formation of Telangana state. The MLAs, led by Telangana TDP forum convenor E Dayakar Rao, reached the deputy speaker's office at around 5.30 pm and submitted their resignations. Earlier, they had discussed their strategy and plan of action at the party office in the assembly premises.
Cracking the whip, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday summarily expelled eight of its MPs who cross-voted or abstained during the trust vote as shocked opposition parties got down to fix errant MPs whose actions helped the United Progressive Alliance government survive.
Stepping up its investigation into liquor syndicates in Andhra Pradesh, the Anti-Corruption Bureau has issued notices to three sitting members of Legislative Assembly, one of them from ruling Congress, and others asking them to appear before the ant-graft agency.
Ever since veteran social activist Anna Hazare has been lodged in Tihar on Tuesday, India has been on the boil, with country witnessing widespread protests. Rediff.com presents comprehensive reports of nation-wide protests on Day 2 of Anna's fast.
The Telugu Desam Party-led Grand Alliance in Andhra Pradesh got a major boost on Saturday with the Telangana Rashtra Samiti formally announcing its decision to join the alliance. The TRS had been holding political negotiations with both the Grand Alliance and Chiranjeevi's Praja Rajyam Party.TRS chief K Chandrasekhara Rao, accompanied by other party leaders, met TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu today afternoon and formally joined the alliance.
Kadapa member of Parliament Y S Jaganmohan Reddy's visit to Lord Tirupati Venkateswara temple is embroiled into a controversy following allegations of rival Telugu Desam Party and Congress leaders that he did not give a mandatory declaration to the authorities despite being a non-Hindu.
The political scene in Andhra Pradesh took an interesting turn on Tuesday with the Telangana Rashtra Samiti deciding to join the Grand Alliance comprising the Telugu Desam Party, the Communist Party of India - Marxist and the Communist Party of India. The TRS' decision came as a major setback for the ruling Congress and a rude shock for the fledgling Praja Rajyam Party of actor Chiranjeevi, as they desperately sought to align with the pro-Telangana outfit.
Even as the film star turned politician Chiranjeevi was worried over getting an electoral symbol allotted by the Election Commission, his Praja Rajyam party got a shot in the arm on Thursday with two legislators of Telugu Desam party including the party general secretary joining the PRP.
The Telangana movement gathered further steam as Telangana Rashtra Samiti President K Chandrasekhar Rao and party MP and actress Vijayshanti too resigning from Lok Sabha in support of the demand for a separate state. The two faxed their resignation letters to the Speaker on Tuesday morning.
The MLAs -- 10 from the Telangana Rashtra Samiti, 2 from Congress, one each from Bharatiya Janata Party, Telugu Desam Party and Praja Rajyam -- met Speaker N Kiran Kumar Reddy in Hyderabad and submitted their resignation. The legislators said they resigned in order to mount pressure on the Centre to take immediate steps for formation of a separate state.
Maintaining that Y S RajasekharReddy's regime made land allotments for employment generation purposes, Kadapa member of Parliament Jaganmohan Reddy has asked why the Central Bureau of Investigation did not look into the allotment of lands made during the previous Telugu Desam Party rule.
The rumblings of discontent in Telugu Desam Party have assumed serious proportions with another senior party leader revolting against party president N Chandrababu Naidu.
Army chief's allegations that he was offered bribe rocked Parliament on Monday with both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha adjourning twice after Opposition uproar.
The N Kiran Kumar Reddy-led government in Andhra Pradesh on Saturday indirectly proved its majority in the House when Congress nominee Nandendla Manohar was elected the Speaker. In a division of votes, sought by the main opposition Telugu Desam Party, Manohar got 158 votes in a House of 294 while TDP nominee K E Krishnamurthy got only 90 votes.
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.
Opposition National Democratic Alliance and the Telugu Desam Party members staged a walkout in the Rajya Sabha saying the government's decision was an 'insult' to Telugu people.
Telugu Desam Party President N Chandrababu Naidu has appealed to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy to immediately remove the tainted ministers who allegedly have links with the liquor mafia.
The Telugu Desam Party, along with its Left allies, will raise the "mining mafia" issue in the forthcoming session of Parliament.
The Election Commission will start counting votes for Vidhan Sabha elections on May 23. The assembly elections were held in four states -- Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim -- simultaneously with the Lok Sabha Elections over April and May. The Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, and Sikkim Assemblies went to polls in the duration between 11 April and 19 May, and the Election Commission will declare the results for at least 534 assembly seats - which is almost as many as the Lok Sabha seats - on May 23.
The Telugu Desam Party indicated that it may support United Progressive Alliance candidate Pranab Mukherjee in next month's Presidential election.
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.
Mulayam Singh's bid to get a third front on his side is to get into a position where he can barter for the prime minister's job with the support of either the BJP or the Congress, says Seema Mustafa.
The Rajya Sabha was adjourned briefly on Wednesday as Samajwadi Party, Telugu Desam Party and All India Anna Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam members demanded Finance Minister P Chidambaram's resignation over certain references in a book on stock market.
Unidentified people demolished a life-size statue of late Andhra Pradesh chief minister N T Rama Rao at Jawahar Nagar on the outskirts of Hyderabad on Thursday night, triggering widespread protests from the Telugu Desam Party cadre in the state. TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, who was on his foot march in Guntur district, strongly condemned the vandalism and demanded that the culprits be brought to book immediately.
Communist Party of India-Marxist's decision to fight the upcoming by-elections in Andhra Pradesh on its own has left the political arena in the state open. CPI-M's decision has rattled opposition Telugu Desam Party, which always saw a 'natural ally' in it.
The stage is set for the Telugu Desam Party's (TDP) much-publicised mega event, 'Yuva Garjana', to be held on the National Highway between Vijaywada and Guntur on Wednesday.
In a major relief to Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu, the Andhra Pradesh high court in its interim orders on Tuesday stayed the preliminary probe by the Central Bureau of Investigations into his alleged disproportionate assets.
Speaking for the first time in the Andhra Pradesh legislative assembly after she was elected six months ago, YS Vijayalakshmi, widow of former Chief Minister Y S Rajashekhar Reddy, defended her son and member of Parliament YS Jaganmohan Reddy.
State Tourism minister Vatti Vasant Kumar and TDP legislator Chintamaneni Prabhakar shoved each other, after an eated argument on the dais during the 'Rachabanda' (mass contact programme), they said adding the MLA was later taken into custody.
The TDP and the YSR Congress forced brief adjournments of Lok Sabha proceedings demanding special category status for Andhra Pradesh.
As a precursor to his political entry, Balakrishna on Friday inaugurated an 'Annadanam' (mass feeding) programme at the charitable trust named after his mother late Basava Tarakam, on Thursday. Replying to a query, he vowed to work for regaining the glory of TDP. He would participate in TDP's youth convention at Guntur later this month.
Stepping up its campaign, a group of political parties from Telangana has set an ultimatum for the Centre asking it to announce a time-frame by Monday for formation of the separate state, failing which an indefinite bandh would be enforced from December 29.
Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu's only son Nara Lokesh will soon follow in his father's footsteps and may contest the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
Naidu broke the fast by taking a glass of coconut water following intervention by Communist Party of India-Marxist general secretary Prakash Karat, CPI general secretary A B Bardhan, Janata Dal-United chief Sharad Yadav, Rashtriya Lok Dal president Ajit Singh and other leaders who prevailed upon him to end the fast.
The BJP's bandh call, separately endorsed by the Maoists, was meant to mark protest against the delay in the formation of separate Telangana state by the Congress-led UPA government. However, the bandh evoked mixed response though the BJP leaders and activists went around the towns and cities across Telangana to enforce the call.
The Telangana Rashtra Samiti will never merge with any other party and will continue as the 'sole voice' of Telangana people even if statehood is granted to the region, party chief K Chandrasekhar Rao said on Tuesday. His remarks assume significance in the wake of comments by Telugu Desam Party leaders that Rao would merge TRS with the Congress in return for formation of a separate Telangana. He reiterated his decision to make a Dalit the chief minister.
The B N Srikrishna Committee, set up by the Centre to look into the demands for the creation of a separate Telangana, has said that so far, it has not received any official report from the ruling Congress party and main opposition Telugu Desam Party.Committee chairman Justice BN Srikrishna, who arrived in Hyderabad on Thursday to discuss the issue with various political parties, said that some leaders of the two parties had presented their own reports to the committee.