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.
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.
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.
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 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.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and his Telangana counterpart Revanth Reddy visited some inundated areas in their respective territories.
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.
Accusing the UPA government of all-round failure, he said the people were yearning for a genuine alternative that was committed to the welfare of the poor.
Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu suffered a minor injury to his back in a freak mishap, when the dais from which he was addressing a gathering, collapsed at Gadwal in Mahbubnagar district late on Friday night.
Accusing the Congress and Telugu Desam Party leaders from Telangana of being insincere over their resignations in support of separate statehood demand, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi and political Joint Action Committee on Wednesday announced an action plan to intensify the stir to make them quit and mount pressure on the Centre.
In fact they had been expecting the defeat once the United Nationl Progressive Alliance decided to abstain from the election and not support Shekhawat.
Known as the high-tech chief minister and sarcastically a chief minister of only Hyderabad, Telugu Desam Party supremo Chandrababu Naidu will find the going tough as he has to ready himself with some very hard questions from the rural folk of Andhra Pradesh who have very often termed him as anti-poor. Vicky Nanjappa lists some of these questions
Besides the four Left parties, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Telugu Desam Party, Samajwadi Party, Biju Janata Dal, Janata Dal-Secular and Indian National Lok Dal "have decided to call for a country-wide hartal on July five", a joint statement by top leaders of CPI-M, CPI, Revolutionary Socialist Party and Forward Bloc said in New Delhi.
Telugu Desam Party legislators hailing from Telangana region have urged the state government to officially celebrate Hyderabad State Liberation Day on September 17. A delegation of TDP MLAs led by Nagam Janardhana Reddy and K Hareeshwar Reddy met Chief Minister K Rosaiah at his residence on Tuesday night and submitted a memorandum listing their demands.
The Telugu Desam party on Monday suffered a setback when one of its senior leaders and legislators Pocharam Srinivas Reddy announced his resignation from the party as well as the assembly. Srinivas Reddy, a former minister, told the media in his home constituency Banswada in Nizamabad district that he decided to quit the party because of the lack of clarity in its stand on the demand for a separate state of Telangana. Reddy said that he had made up his mind to join the TRS.
A backward class leader from neighbouring Ranga Reddy district, Goud -- who is also a member of the party's politburo -- had been mounting pressure on the leadership for an early decision on the demand for a separate Telangana state. The former minister had, off late, emerged a rallying point for protagonists of separate Telangana state within the TDP.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said the issue of alleged suicide by farmers hit by natural calamities in Andhra Pradesh would be looked into.The assurance was given by the prime minister to a delegation of seven opposition parties which met him to draw his attention to the plight of farmers in the southern state, Communist Party of India leader A B Bardhan told reporters after the meeting.The delegation also handed over to him a letter from TDP chief C Naidu.
Members of Parliament from the Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam have threatened to forcefully occupy the office of Telugu Desam Party inside Parliament house next week.
Though the TDP does not have enough numbers to pull down the Congress Government, its objective in moving the no-trust motion appears to be part of its strategy to regain the lost ground, particularly in the wake of the Telangana statehood struggle, and also "expose" YSR Congress president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, political observers feel.
In the biggest policy reversal in its 26-year-long history, the Telugu Desam Party on Thursday announced its support to the formation of Telangana state by bifurcating Andhra Pradesh.
The opposition Telugu Desam party received another big jolt on Thursday with senior leader and former minister Tammineni Sitaram quitting its ranks and joining the Praja Rajyam party of film-star turned politician Chiranjeevi.
Gandhi said he was "waiting with open arms".
As soon as the Assembly commenced its sitting at 8.30 am, Speaker K R Suresh Reddy disallowed the adjournment notices given by the opposition parties.
The opposition on Sunday asked the Centre to allow discussions in the Parliament on the United States prosecutors' bribery charges against the Adani Group even as Union minister Kiren Rijiju made it clear that the matters to be taken up in the two Houses will be decided by their authorised committees with the consent of the respective Chair.
Yoga guru Ramdev met Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu in Hyderabad on Monday morning to drum up support for his anti-corruption movement.
M Jagnnadham, one of the two rebel Telugu Desam Party members of Lok Sabha, has been expelled from the party for violating the party whip and casting vote in support of the United Progressive Alliance government in Parliament on Tuesday.
In response to a public interest litigation filed by three Telugu Desam Party leaders, seeking penal action against former Congress member of Parliament YS Jagan Mohan Reddy for alleged corruption, the Andhra Pradesh high court on Tuesday issued notices to him, the Union government and several other respondents.
As the CBI tightens the net around Jagan Mohan Reddy over a corruption case, and the YSR Congress chief claims that he is a target of political vendetta, Rediff.com's Priyanka reviews the probe agency's case against the powerful Andhra leader
It may be recalled that at the time of the last Presidential elections in 2002, Naidu had worked for evolving a consensus on the candidature of Dr A P J Abdul Kalam while the Left parties had fielded Mrs Lakshmi Sahgal.
A Congress source termed the process of drafting and presenting of the Bill before the state cabinet on Monday as a "unilateral" effort by the chief minister's office and ministers that are close to him.
T Devender Goud the TDP's senior most and influential leader in the Telangana region has dropped hints of his intention to quit the party over the Telangana issue.
The situation today is far more conducive for a third front than it was in 1996, says TDP leader Chandrababu Naidu. Mohammed Siddique reports
The Andhra Pradesh assembly was on Wednesday plunged in turmoil after 46 Members of Legislative Assembly, including the Telugu Desam Party leader Chandrababu Naidu, were suspended from the House and clashed with the marshals leaving two MLAs injured.
Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu has condemned Union Home Minister P Chidambaram's claim that he met him on the Telangana statehood issue.
Telugu Desam Party president and leader of opposition in Andhra Pradesh assembly, N Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday sought Prime Minister's direction for Maharashtra and Karnataka governments over the issue of "illegal" construction of barrages across Godavari and Krishna rivers.
Trouble began when the Speaker disallowed adjournment notices on the multi-crore rupee scam relating to misappropriation of Sarva Siksha Abhiyan funds amounting to 40 crore.
All public examinations scheduled for Wednesday would be postponed to a later date, Backward Classes Welfare Minister D Srinivas told reporters here.