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.
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.
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.
Megha Engineering had emerged as the second-biggest buyer of electoral bonds and donated the highest amount of about Rs 586 crore to the Bharatiya Janata Party, according to the data released by the Election Commission on March 21.
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.
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.
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.
Shiv Sena-Uhhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday said the seat-sharing talks between his party and the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar have concluded as these two parties are driven by a desire and mindset to resolve issues.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
Proceedings were stalled for 25 minutes over the incident wherein the police misbehaved with CPI-M legislator Sunnam Rajaiah and his family members.
The Congress and the Grand Alliance of the Telugu Desam Party, the Telengana Rashtra Samithi, the Communist Party of India-Marxist and the Communist Party of India are expected to be locked in a direct contest for electoral supremacy in Andhra Pradesh, with Praja Rajyam Party likely to emerge as a dark horse with its chief Chiranjeevi hoping to do an Obama with his 'change' mantra.
Evangelist Anil Kumar aka Benjamin Komanapally's debut in Secunderabad bore all the hallmarks of a gala event. A sprawling parade ground packed with nearly 1.5 lakh people, a 250-member choir and guests including Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy, his wife and only daughter.After it was revealed that Anil Kumar was the chief minister's son-in-law, the TDP and BJP demanded an inquiry into the source of funding for such large-scale publicity.
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.
Against the backdrop of a strong agitation for separate statehood, the ruling Congress and the major opposition Telugu Desam Party face a tough challenge in the coming bypolls to 12 assembly seats in Telangana region.
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 Opposition members were demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy for illegal possession of land.
The condition of Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu "deteriorated" further on Tuesday even as he continued with his indefinite hunger strike seeking justice for farmers for the fifth day.
Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu on Friday launched an indefinite hunger strike demanding that the state and the central government immediately provide succour to hapless farmers and artisans who have faced the brunt of nature's fury in the last one year. The former Andhra Pradesh chief minister expressed serious displeasure over the relief measures announced by Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and demanded higher compensation.
The two were identified from the photographs and the television footage of the outrageous incident in which 55-year-old Janardhan Reddy was beaten up chappals (slippers), hands and blows were rained on his head and his shirt was torn.
The ruling Congress party in Andhra Pradesh is caught in a state of confusion on how to deal with the resignations of its 24 members of Legislative Assembly, who are loyal to YSR Congress president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy. For the record, the party has been saying that by-elections are inevitable in those 24 constituencies and two others from where Telugu Desam Party rebel MLAs have also resigned in support of Jagan.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has begun consultations with its allies on the ruling National Democratic Alliance's candidate for the Lok Sabha Speaker's post while the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) is considering its options and may force a contest to score political points, sources said on Monday, a day before the filing of nomination for the key position.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday lambasted BJP and TDP for doing nothing for the country's farmers during the six years of National Democratic Alliance rule. Addressing a massive farmers' rally at Jaggampeta town in Andhra Pradesh after dedicating the first phase of the Rs 600-crore Thota Venkatachalam Pushkara lift irrigation project, Sonia questioned BJP and TDP's credentials to champion the cause of the farmers when these parties were out of power.
The Bharatiya Janata Party sealed its alliance with the Telugu Desam Party on Saturday for the upcoming Lok Sabha and Andhra Pradesh assembly elections, with former chief minister of the southern state N Chandrababu Naidu asserting that the combine will sweep the polls.
Leaders of the Left parties, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Telugu Desam Party will meet President Pratibha Patil on Tuesday to demand immediate convening of Parliament session. The meeting comes in the wake of the Left demand that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should quit for "lying to people and Parliament" on the Indo-US nuclear deal.
Former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh and Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu, who is in the thick of a fight against a powerful mine owner and Karnataka's tourism minister Galli Janardhan Reddy, has chided the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress for being under control of mining mafia.
Guntur turned in to a "Yellow Sea" on Wednesday as more than a million supporters of Telugu Desam Party from all over coastal Andhra region flooded to the city for the "Yuva Garjana" (Roar of the Youth) rally to witness the popular Telugu film star Balakrishna launching himself in to an active political role.
The Andhra Pradesh high court on Thursday dismissed a petition seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the assets of former chief minister and Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu.
The ties between the Telugu Desam Party and the Telangana Joint Action Committee came under strain on Monday with the latter alleging that the main opposition party has an ambivalent stand on the statehood demand.
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.
Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday said he would go ahead with his scheduled Rythu Poru Baata (struggle for farmers) programme even as Warangal police advised him to put off his tour of the district in view of the "hostile" atmosphere created by Telangana separatists.
Tension is on the rise in Warangal district of Andhra Pradesh as the police have rounded up more than 2,000 Telangana state supporters fearing violence during the visit of Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday.
In a relief to Telangana Telugu Desam Party MLA A Revanth Reddy, the prime accused in the cash-for-vote case, the Hyderabad high court on Tuesday granted bail to him and two others accused in the case.
The errant TDP members stormed into the well of the House and continued to shout slogans near the podium in spite of repeated appeals by the Speaker to resume their seats. Raising his voice, the Speaker thundered "Enough is enough. Please go back to your seats. What tamasha is this? You are only making a mockery of democracy," before adjourning the House.
The state's economic health is in focus as it has consistently breached the fiscal deficit in eight of the last 10 years since Telangana's formation.
