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.
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.
Former Jharkhand Chief Minister and Member of Parliament Babulal Marandi has extended support to the Third Front.In a letter to Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu, the prominent Jharkhand leader said he supported the Front, which was a non-United Progressive Alliance and non-National Democratic Alliance option. He said that he could not attend the Front's meeting in New Delhi due to prior poll-related commitments.
The Telugu Desam president and a leading figure in the third front N Chandrababu Naidu has ruled out the possibility of any body being projected as the prime ministerial candidate of the third front before the elections.
In a development, which can impact the fluid political situation in Andhra Pradesh to a great extent, an influential Dalit organization Madiga Reservation Porata Samiti, has decided to join the opposition' Grand Alliance led by the Telugu Desam party.
The populist promises made by former Andhra Pradesh chief minister and Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu for the forthcoming assembly elections will cost the state exchequer a whopping Rs 5,000 crore.The ruling Congress party has termed Naidu's promises a result of 'unimaginable frustration'. "He is so desperate to come to power that he is ready to make any promise to the people", said Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy.
Former Chief Minister and Telugu Desam president N Chandrababu Naidu, who heads four-party Grand Alliance in Andhra Pradesh said with the announcement of election schedule, the countdown has begun for the Congress governments both in New Delhi and Hyderabad.
Even as the schedule of Andhra Pradesh legislative assembly polls is likely to be announced in a week's time, all the major political parties have already gone all out with sarcastic television advertisements targeting their rivals.
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.
Telugu Desam president and former Andhra Pradesh chief miniser Chandrababu Naidu has dismissed the entry of former Indian cricket team captain Mohamemd Azharuddin as inconsequential and said that his joining the Congress party will not have any impact on the party.
The Grand Alliance of four opposition parties -- Telugu Desam, Telangana Rashtra Samiti, the Communist Party of India and the Communist Party of India Marxist -- who have decided to make the alleged corruption of the Y S Rajasekhara Reddy-led Congress government the main issue in the coming assembly elections, on Friday demanded that the chief minister be prosecuted under the Prevention of Corruption Act. A delegation of the Grand Alliance leaders met Governor N D Tiwari.
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.
The Andhra Legislative Assembly witnessed noisy scenes and constant exchange of words between the ruling Congress and the TDP members through the 90-minute reply by the chief minister.
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.
Members of TDP and Congress stalled the House proceedings.
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.
Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee on Tuesday disqualified Telugu Desam Party MP M Jagannath, who defied a party whip and voted for the Congress-led United Progressive government in a trust vote He was diusqualified according to the Anti-Defection Law under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, a Lok Sabha release said.
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.
Even as legislators of the Telugu Desam Party and the Telangana Rashtra Samiti hailing from Telangana region decided to go ahead with their resignations in support of a separate state on Friday, the Congress group from the region softened its stand and on Tuesday aborted its visit to New Delhi to pressurise the party high command.
In a letter to the prime minister, he had demanded Dr Singh to visit Mudigonda village to console the families of the police firing victims.
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.
Leader of the Opposition and TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu and TRS floor leader G Vijayarama Rao were among those suspended.
The Telugu Desam Party has sought a clarification from Chief Minister K Rosaiah on the pro-active role being taken by new Governor E S L Narasimhan that was raising doubts about the possibility of the imposition of President's rule in Andhra Pradesh.
Congratulating Barack Obama on winning the United States presidential elections, Telugu Desam Party president and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu has promised to bring about a similar change in Andhra Pradesh in the next year's state elections.
The leader of opposition in Andhra Pradesh assembly and Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday demanded the immediate sacking of the state Governor N D Tiwari for his alleged involvement in a 'sex scandal' in Raja Bhavan in Hyderabad.
Even as all eyes were focused on the high drama involving Vijaywada MP L Rajagopal, many other leaders continued their indefinite fast in support of United Andhra Pradesh at as many 49 places across coastal Andhra and Rayala Seema regions.
Congress lawmakers from Telangana met senior party leader and Defence Minister A K Antony on Tuesday demanding disciplinary action against Y S Jaganmohan Reddy for joining a Telugu Desam Party protest in Lok Sabha against the decision to carve out a separate state from Andhra Pradesh.
The fissures in the Congress over the Telangana issue came to the fore in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday when Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, along with some other party Members of Parliament, joined a Telugu Desam Party protest against the decision to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh. Jaganmohan, son of late Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, even stormed the well of the House, joining the TDP members. The TDP members were carrying placards saying 'We want united Andhra Pradesh'.
Telugu Desam Party chief N Chandrababu Naidu on Monday accused the Centre of stoking fire by announcing the "shocking decision" about creation of separate Telangana state and said the onus lay with it to douse it.
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.
Renowned Telangana folk singer and balladeer Gaddar, who was popularly known for his revolutionary songs during the 1980s and later during the Telangana statehood agitation, passed away in Hyderabad on Sunday due to ill-health. He was 77.
The ruling Congress party has emerged as the single largest party in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation by winning 52 of the 150 seats, results of which were announced on Thursday. However, the hopes of the Congress leaders of sweeping the elections and bagging two-third of the seats were dashed.
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.
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.
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.
