Urging the ruling Congress in Andhra Pradesh to dissociate itself from the allegations of corruption during late Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy's tenure, a party member of Parliament has also said that YSR's photographs should be stopped from being used in party's publicity material.
Making a headstart, YSR Congress Party president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy and his mother Y S Vijayalakshmi on Wednesday separately launched their campaigns for the May 8 by-elections for Kadapa Lok Sabha and Pulivendula Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh.
Ruling Congress and main opposition Telugu Desam MLAs came to near blows inside the Andhra Pradesh assembly on Monday after Agriculture Minister Y S Vivekananda heckled two TDP MLAs as they held a placard that denigrated supporters of late Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Monday served summons on Kadapa MP Y S Jaganmohan Reddy issued by a court last week seeking his appearance in an alleged illegal assets case.
Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, who has revolted against the Congress leadership, intends to seek re-election from Kadapa Lok Sabha seat and says he is not keen on destabilising the Congress government in Andhra Pradesh.
Telugu Desam Party is adopting a three-pronged strategy to fight politically as well as legally the Central Bureau of Investigation probe into alleged amassing of wealth by it chief N Chandrababu Naidu, based on a PIL filed by Y S Vijaya, wife of late chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy.
IIM-A and XLRI were invited in 2008 by late chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy.
AP Minister Konda Surekha recently resigned to protest the Congress leadership's reluctance to appoint Y S Jaganmohan Reddy as Y S Rajasekhara Reddy's successor.
Claiming that the Andhra Pradesh government has been reduced to minority, the Jagan camp on Saturday dared Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and his cabinet colleagues to step down from their posts and seek a fresh mandate.
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'.
An organisational portfolio in the Andhra Pradesh unit of the Congress party seems to be all that Y S Jaganmohan Reddy--son of late chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy--will get for the time being. Halting his aspirations of taking over the mantle from his father, the Congress high command has decided to continue with current Chief Minister K Rosaiah for the time being.
The much-awaited decision was announced by Chief Minister Konijeti Rosaiah at a news conference on Wednesday.
CID investigating officer Lakshmi Narayana Rao asked Chandrababu to appear in person at the CID regional office in Vijayawada on March 23 "to examine you (A-1) in the above crime, to ascertain facts which are within your exclusive knowledge."
It is not just film stars who are spicing up the poll scene in Andhra Pradesh, but also corporate honchos who are jumping on to the political bandwagon to try their fortunes in Lok Sabha and assembly polls.
The prospect of an upset worries the ruling Congress in Andhra Pradesh as it faces a threat from a rebel candidate in the biennial election to Rajya Sabha slated for Friday.
'Once you set up a tweet-storm of vilification, labelling individuals anti-nationals, traitors, blasphemous, and foreign agents, you are creating enough justification for somebody with a gun to kill, or for a mob to lynch,' warns Shekhar Gupta.
India's fear of small states derives from memories of Partition and the paranoid view that it will break up under 'too many' states. It's time to shed such fears and bite the 'states' reorganisation' bullet. India won't crumble under a few more Telanganas, Vidarbhas or Gorkhalands, says Praful Bidwai.
This time however, the poll panel did not share the overall polling percentage at its briefing.