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.
Telugu Desam president N Chandrababu Naidu launched his campaign for the next elections with a slew of populist promises offering goodies to different sections. Addressing a huge public meeting, marking the conclusion of his 117-day-long Mee Kosam Yatra (For You Yatra) at Anantapur on Friday evening, Naidu promised 13-hour-free electricity supply to farmers, against the supply of seven hours now.
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 actress has a sizzling hot number with co-star Abbas in the Telugu film, Idhi Sangathi.
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.
'All my wealth I earned in the US. It is all money earned transparently. I have paid all taxes.'
Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah on Wednesday late night met Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu at the latter's residence in Hyderabad.
Proceedings were stalled for 25 minutes over the incident wherein the police misbehaved with CPI-M legislator Sunnam Rajaiah and his family members.
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.
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.
Even before the government of Andhra Pradesh could officially declare any part of the state as drought hit, the failure of monsoon has started taking a huge toll on the state's farmers.
A young Congress candidate has created history in the Andhra Pradesh assembly bypolls by securing a previously unheard of majority of 1,92000 votes. P Vishnuvardhan Reddy of Congress, who was fielded from Khairatabad assembly constituency after the death of his father P Janardhan Redddy, a popular leader, won the seat with a massive margin by defeating his nearest rival of Lok Satta Party.
Armed with swords and sickles, about 20 people, allegedly owing allegience to the ruling Telugu Desam Party, went to Peddavaram early on Saturday morning and attacked the Congress workers after dragging them out of their homes, police said.
K Venkatappa Naidu, a TDP leader facing several criminal cases, his brother, two gunmen and four other associates died at Bodanuru village in the faction-ridden district when some bombs exploded soon after their vehicle collided against a lorry, the police said. It was not clear how the explosion occurred. Police are looking into whether the bombs being carried in the vehicle exploded or there was any attack from outside.
Opposition members created a ruckus during Zero Hour, raising the issue of alleged violation of land laws by the chief minister.
The Opposition members were demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy for illegal possession of land.
It was a landslide victory for the Telangana Rashtra Samiti candidates in 11 out of 12 assembly constituencies that went for by-polls in the Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh on July 27.
The ongoing tussle between the Andhra Pradesh government and a legislator of Opposition Telugu Desam TV Rama Rao over his alleged involvement in a case of sexual abuse took a curious turn on Saturday with five girls appearing before the state home minister and giving a statement against the MLA.
Naidu set out on the yatra in a specially built campaign bus from Matammagudi (local temple) in a Dalit colony in Rayalapuram village in his native Chittoor district, after seeking divine blessings of Lord Venkateswara at the famed Tirumala-Tirupati Devasthanam. With the next Assembly elections barely a year away, Naidu is undertaking the marathon yatra to dethrone the Congress regime led by Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy. Naidu's yatra will enter Nalgonda district from Guntur.
The Left parties and Telugu Desam Party jointly staged a protest at Indira Park in Hyderabad on Thursday in protest against the failure of Andhra Pradesh and Central governments in controlling the abnormal hike in the prices of essential commodities. The parties vowed to take up 'serious agitation' in future if the governments failed to act swiftly to control the price rise.
Reacting to the development, Naidu said such crises were not new to the party.
Union Minister of State for Mines T Subbarami Reddy, Advisor on Public Affairs Dr K V P Ramachandra Rao and Telugu Desam Party founder N T Rama Rao's son Nandamuri Harikrishna are among the six candidates who filed their nominations on Saturday for Rajya Sabha biennial elections from Andhra Pradesh slated for March 26.
"If you see in the context of alliances and statistics, then this is the strongest alliance government," Modi said while addressing newly-elected MPs and leaders of the NDA from across the country following his election as leader of the ruling bloc ahead of his government's swearing-in on Sunday.
In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the BJP is looking to fill the Opposition slot and not aspire to occupy pole position.
The party fielded Maneka Gandhi from Sultanpur, while Uttar Pradesh minister Jitin Prasada has replaced Varun Gandhi in Pilibhit.
Chinna Reddy had accused Janardhan Reddy of damaging his reputation during a general body meeting of the Mahbubnagar zilla parishad on February 17, 2002. Janardhan Reddy was a minister in the TDP government at that time while Chinna Reddy was an MLA from the Congress.
In a bid to out-do the ruling Congress party and others in populist promises, the main opposition Telugu Desam party on Thursday announced that if it comes to power in the next month's elections to the state assembly, it will provide a colour television set to each poor family in Andhra Pradesh.
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.
Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, a key ally of the previous Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government, today said his Telugu Desam Party will never help L K Advani become Prime Minister nor support any BJP government at the Centre.
The seat sharing has become the biggest challenge before the four party Grand Alliance led by the Telugu Desam party. The TDP president, N Chandrababu Naidu is under tremendous pressure from his partners' demand for a larger number of Lok Sabha and assembly seats.
Amidst high drama, 32 TDP MLAs, including party president N Chandrababu Naidu staged a demonstration near the Speaker's podium after the House was adjourned.Naidu and his colleagues slept on the floor and were preparing to corner the Congress government on the MSP issue as soon the House assembles on Monday, the last day of the 10-day winter session. In spite of repeated appeals by the Speaker, the slogan-shouting TDP legislators continued their sit-in near the podium.
The Grand Alliance of opposition in Andhra Pradesh, headed by the Telugu Desam chief N Chandrababu Naidu, continues to suffer from teething problems and confusion. In a setback to the Telangana Rashtra Samiti, one of the constituents of the alliance, the TDP president Chandrababu Naidu has made it clear that the GA will not have any common agenda or program.
As the assembly elections loom large over Andhra Pradesh, a race of sorts has already begun among the political parties to offer sops and make populist promises.
The grandiose plans of the opposition parties in Andhra Pradesh to form a 'grand alliance' to ensure the defeat of ruling Congress party were lying in tatters as the recently established relations between the main opposition Telugu Desam Party and powerful regional party Telangana Rashtra Samiti reaching a breaking point on the issue of seat sharing.
A political novice, YSRC's M Gurumoorthy defeated former Union Minister of State Panabaka Lakshmi of the TDP by a margin of over 14 per cent votes.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy on Tuesday dared Leader of Opposition and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu to agree to an enquiry commission to investigate the wealth accumulated by them and their family members over the last three decades. Dr Reddy lambasted Naidu for alleging that he was making Rs one crore per hour through corrupt means. In fact, during his nine-year rule, Naidu was used to earning income on an hourly basis, the CM alleged.
The TDP and JD-U will have a lot to answer inside Parliament, day after day, session after session, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
