United Progressive Alliance nominee Pranab Mukherjee on Monday met ruling Congress MPs, MLAs and MLCs as part of his campaign for the July 19 Presidential election.
Congress leaders from Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh have become hyperactive ahead of the December 9 deadline they have set for the high command even as Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy has been called to New Delhi later this week.
On instructions from Congress president Sonia Gandhi, senior Union ministers were asked to brief Congress MPs on the allocation of coal blocks and the CAG report.
Stepping up the heat, Congress MPs from Telangana on Friday appealed to Sonia Gandhi to announce decision on creation of a separate state as promised by January 28, failing which they threatened a showdown with party.
Repeated disruptions in Lok Sabha by Congress members from Andhra Pradesh over Telangana issue and suspension of eight MPs saw Bharatiya Janata Party and Left parties hitting out at the government for this unprecedented situation while the ruling party justified its stand.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi will lead a delegation of Congress MPs to meet President Pranab Mukherjee, over developments in the Arunachal Pradesh assembly.
Swearing-in of the newly-elected Trinamool Congress MPs on May 25 and 26 has been deferred as per the directive of party supremo Mamata Banerjee.
With Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee falling in line to back UPA candidate Pranab Mukherjee in the July 19 Presidential election, Congress president Sonia Gandhi has sent out an invite to her to join the lunch she is hosting at Hotel Ashoka in New Delhi on Wednesday at 1230 hours for MPs of all parties supporting his candidature.
Countering the opposition claim that farmers across the country are agitated over the three new laws, he said that those in just one state are being misinformed and instigated.
The Andhra Pradech CM asked party MPs to meet the President after Parliament is adjourned sine die.
Voicing disappointment over Prime Minister Manmohan Singh favouring consensus on separate Telangana demand, Congress MPs from the region on Sunday sought intervention of party president Sonia Gandhi in the issue.
Amid clamour for a larger role for Rahul Gandhi, Home Minister P Chidambaram has said that the young leader will do "very well" in government as well as the Congress.
Madhu Yashki, one of the suspended MPs from the Telangana, said that it made little sense to quit the Congress and form a new party because only a national party can ensure the formation of Telangana.
Members of the Congress also walked out of the Lok Sabha and staged a sit-in in the Parliament House complex after they were not allowed to speak following a statement by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on the border standoff with China in eastern Ladakh.
The resignation of 12 members of Parliament of various political parties from Telangana region in Andhra Pradesh has not been accepted by Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday directed Telangana Congress members of legislative assembly and Parliament to withdraw their resignations, paving way for United Progressive Alliance to come out with a package for Telangana.
Congress members of Parliament from Telangana region on Thursday attacked Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy accusing him of adopting an "uncalled for vindictive attitude" towards the people agitating for a separate state.
Telangana Congress MPs and other leaders on Wednesday thanked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for recommending the deletion of a controversial clause related to police recruitment, but decided to continue their boycott of official work for now.
The focal point of the Telangana issue has shifted to Delhi with the arrival of Andhra Pradesh Governor ESL Narasimhan and Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy in the capital on Wednesday.
TMC MPs were told about the problem in running an economy of India's size and the problems of public finance.
In an embarrassment to the Congress, 10 party members of Parliament from Telangana region in Andhra Pradesh, who have tendered their resignation on the separate statehood issue, on Monday stayed away from Parliament on the opening day of the monsoon session.
They registered their protest with a warning that any other such increase would make the party consider its future ties with the UPA.
Home ministry officials told the parliamentary panel that those detained under the PSA can challenge their detention in a designated tribunal.
Stepping up pressure, Congress MPs from Telangana on Tuesday sought an "early decision" from the party high command on their demand for a separate state.
At least 25 MPs of the Congress and its allies in the United Progressive Alliance were absent during voting on the Constitution Amendment Bill on Lokpal in the Lok Sabha which was defeated for lack of numbers.
There are, however, several netizens who came out in support of the two actors.
Trinamool Congress MPs are likely to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Delhi on November 8 against the backdrop of the UPA ally's threat to pull out of the government on the petrol price rise issue.
Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar is expected to take a decision on the resignation of 13 members of Parliament from Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh before the Monsoon session of Parliament that begins on August 1.
The issue of separate Telangana was raised on the opening day of the Budget session on Monday with about a dozen Congress MPs from Andhra Pradesh staging a dharna to protest absence of any mention of the issue in the President's address.
Madhu Goud Yaskhi, a Congress MP from the Telangana region, is an avowed advocate of a separate state. The NRI-lawyer-turned-politician who won a second term in 2009 from Nizamabad, spoke to Neerja Chowdhury candidly on where matters stood and what could be the way forward.
"We will fight against injustice, and fight till justice is done," Priyanka Gandhi told reporters after the meeting that lasted about 45 minutes. Rahul Gandhi said no power can stifle the voice of the family.
Two Congress MPs from Telangana region dismissed reports that there was a proposal to pacify the agitation by offering political posts to the agitators and said there was "no compromise" on their commitment to a form a separate state.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Sunday night appealed to ruling Congress Members of Parliament from Telangana not to undertake their proposed fast on Monday for withdrawal of police cases against students, but the Parliamentarians rejected the request. "If the government withdraws the police cases against students by evening, it is fine. Otherwise, Telangana Congress MPs would go on fast from Monday. It is a Gandhian fast," said K Keshav Rao.
The government had a close shave on the penultimate day of the budget session of the Parliament when the Left demanded a division at the time of introduction of the Pension Regulatory Authority Bill.
The ruling Congress MPs, legislators and state ministers from Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh on Friday said they would resign en masse on July 4 in support of their demand for a separate state. This decision was taken on Friday after a meeting of the leaders from the region attended by seven MPs, 18 MLAs, nine MLCs and nine ministers in Hyderabad.
The party high command has facilitated this meeting between the prime minister and the Congress MPs and MLAs from Telangana who have given June 30 as the deadline for the formation of a separate state. If the deadline is missed, they will either leave the party or go on a strong agitation
Addressing the Congress Parliamentary Party meeting in Parliament House, she also attacked the governor of the state, Bhagat Singh Koshyari, saying he had acted in an "unprecedented and reprehensible manner".
It is a tribute to India's democracy, however flawed, that the very same MPs who had harangued her intermittently from Opposition benches now surged towards her, anxiety writ large on their faces. One offered her some homoeopathic tablets, another advised her to stay seated, another grasped her hand wishing her good health... the crowd parted as Prime Minister Narendra Modi strode up to congratulate her. But it was mostly well-wishers from the Opposition and the NDA that kept the finance minister cocooned with good wishes until it was time to leave, reports Aditi Phadnis.
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi does not think she has anything worthwhile to tell her party MPs even though Congress MPs have been more than keen to listen to her views on a number of issues, including the numerous controversies hitting the party and the government.
In a bid to clear his name from any possible corruption taint, Commonwealth Games Organising Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi wrote a letter to Congress MPs ahead of the debate in Parliament, denying any financial irregularities in conducting the Queen's Baton Relay.
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