The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a PIL challenging the Union cabinet's decision to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh to carve out a separate Telangana state.
Voters include 8.4 crore men, 8.23 crore women and 11,371 from third gender. There are as many as 35.67 lakh first time voters, besides 3.51 crore young voters in the age group of 20-29 years.
With the situation in Telangana going out of control, the Centre is left with only two options -- impose President's rule or appoint a new chief minister from Telangana region to replace Kiran Kumar Reddy. Vicky Nanjappa reports
The government on Wednesday hoped that four political parties in Andhra Pradesh -- Congress, Telugu Desam Party, MIM and YSR Congress -- will take a call on Telangana issue by end of December, enabling it to convene an all-party meeting.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah may convene an all party meeting on Tuesday to evolve a political consensus on dealing with the Telangana agitation, as the state-wide protests threatened to spiral out of control on Monday.The government is also worried about the worsening health condition of Telangana Rashtriya Samiti leader K Chandrasekhara Rao, who has been on a fast to demand a separate Telangana.
Defence Minister A K Antony, who has been briefing the Congress high command about the steps to be taken to create the state of Telangana, has stated that the party needs to make its intentions clear for the people of Andhra Pradesh.
The launch of Jana Sena party by Union minister Chiranjeevi's brother and Telugu movie star Pawan Kalyan may alter political equations in Andhra Pradesh, more particularly in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions, days ahead of elections to Lok Sabha and the state assembly.
The Union Cabinet, which recently cleared the note on the formation of Telangana and paved the way for the creation of the new state, will do its best to ensure that the process is completed by December 9, when the chief minister of the state is likely to be sworn in.
The seven-point terms of reference of Sirkrishna committee announced by the central government has plunged Andhra Pradesh into a political uncertainty and pro-Telangana groups have given a call for strike in the region on Saturday.
The Centre on Friday announced seven-point terms of reference for the Telangana committee, saying the panel will consult all sections of people in Andhra Pradesh, especially political parties, on the demand of a separate state. The five-member committee, headed by Justice (Retired) B N Srikrishna, will "examine the situation in Andhra Pradesh with reference to demand for a separate state of Telangana as well as the demand for maintaining the present status of united AP.
Jagan Mohan Reddy, who has never clarified his stance on the Telangana issue, may have to reconsider his political agenda. On his return from Nizambad on Tuesday, he was greeted by pro-Telangana supporters, who waved black flags, pelted stones and burnt tyres to protest his visit. Members of the Joint Action Committee on Telangana told rediff.com that Jagan was not welcome in the region. The police, who were present in large numbers to protect Jagan's convoy, arrested 20.
'On the face of it, the Congress, which took the decision without even consulting its allies, does not have a road map. That is why it is unable to deal with the present explosive situation,' says Kalyani Shankar.
The BJP has often highlighted the global recognition of his leadership and India's enhanced stature at the international level in its political discourse, an issue which is likely to rise in salience following the G20 meeting.
The grand old party is looking to retain power in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh while seeking to come to power in the other three states going to polls -- Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Mizoram.
Amid pressure from various quarters for an early decision on the creation of a separate state of Telangana, the government on Saturday said more consultations with various parties are needed on the contentious statehood demand and the exercise would take "some time" to end. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and political secretary to Congress president Ahmed Patel discussed the situation in Telangana region in Andhra Pradesh.
The political buzz in Delhi Corridors of power is not good for the Congress, especially when the President of India elections are near.
Bharatiya Janata Party's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi was in all praises for Telugu superstar turned politician Pawan Kalyan. Sharing the stage with him at a rally in Nizamabad, Modi said, "As long as there are people like Pawan, the Telugu spirit will never die."
A democracy is one, only if it has a robust Opposition. And as its actions show, the Modi-BJP combine gives two hoots for that. So, the Opposition must learn to convince people why the BJP must go. Else, it can count down to 2029, points out Shyam G Menon.
A day after 16 YSR Congress MLAs and one from Congress announced resignations in support of united Andhra Pradesh, two more ruling party legislators from non-Telangana regions today said they would also quit as the central leadership moves towards a decision on statehood.
Though the terms of reference of the committee to look into the creation of a Telangana state may come in the next few days, the Congress is worried about the 'political' price it may have to pay for moving too fast on the statehood issue.
'If such a practice were feasible, every state would seek additional funds, posing a significant risk to the overall health of the economy.'
The United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre is for a consensus on demands for the creation of separate Telangana state and communications have been sent to all political parties, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee said in Kolkata.
The Congress wants to reinforce the tax more powerfully now after its four generations reaped benefit of the wealth passed on to them, he said.
"Mr Modi has utterly failed. It is clear by now that we (NDA) cannot deliver more than this (since 2014)," he said.
The leaders of the Opposition INDIA bloc are meeting on Monday morning ostensibly to redraw their strategies to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP both inside the Parliament and in the electoral arena.
BJP leaders hit back at the DMK and asked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi if he agreed with the insulting remarks of its Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) partner against the north Indians.
The text of the Home Minister P Chidambaram's opening remarks at the meeting where he released the Justice BN Srikrishna report on the Telangana issue
Speaking at a public meeting in Nanded of Maharashtra, he said within 10 days, the BRS' party vehicles will go to every village in all 288 assembly constituencies in Maharashtra to form farmers' committees.
Some names like 'Bharat Rashtriya Samiti', 'Ujwal Bharat Party' and 'Naya Bharat Party' were discussed for the new outfit.
Seat sharing and campaign is likely to be top of the agenda, they added.
A meeting of political leaders from Rayala Seema region, held to discuss the stand to be taken before the Srikrishna Commission on the issue of bifurcation of the state, has sent ripples among the supporters of united Andhra Pradesh. Senior Congress leader and former minister J C Diwakar Reddy has shocked the leaders from coastal Andhra region by suggesting that Rayala Seema should be a part of Telangana rather than Andhra.
Kavitha attacked the BJP government at the Centre, alleging it of using the investigation agencies to target political parties and leaders who do not subscribe to its ideology.
On balance, RG contesting from Raebareli instead of Amethi isn't the masterstroke the party's adherents are touting it to be, but neither is it the blunder the BJP and its tame media is framing it as, points out Prem Panicker.
Brokerages believe that the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP's) stronger-than-expected showing in state elections reduces political risks for the domestic markets going into 2024. However, after the short-term excitement, the focus will soon shift to earnings, global liquidity conditions, and the interest rate trajectory. "BJP's win in the three state elections is much better than what exit polls suggested and reinforces the consensus expectations of a Modi win in the 2024 national elections with a greater likelihood of 300+ seats for the BJP.
Voting was underway on Friday in 102 Lok Sabha seats spread across 21 states and Union territories in the first of the seven phases of the world's largest electoral exercise, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging voters to exercise their franchise in record numbers.
Incumbent DMK MP T Sumathy alias Tamizhachi Thangapandian will face-off former Telangana Governor and BJP leader Tamilisai Soundararajan, while the the AIADMK has fielded ex-MP Dr J Jayavardhan, who won from here in 2014.
Eight Union ministers, two former chief ministers and one ex-governor are among those who are set to test their electoral fate in the first phase of elections on April 19 when 102 seats across 21 states and Union territories will go to polls.
With the date of 'Million March' of Telangana supporters fast approaching, political temperature continues to rise in Andhra Pradesh.
No time-frame can be fixed for solving the complex issue of Telangana statehood as it requires political consensus, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy said on Monday.The demand for carving out a separate state was under active consideration of the Congress high command, he said a day after the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, spearheading the statehood movement, received a huge setback in the by-elections.He said the Cong high command was trying to reach consensus.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) equity inflows in India declined 24 per cent to $20.48 billion in April-September 2023, dragged by lower inflows in computer hardware and software, telecom, auto and pharma, according to government data. FDI inflows stood at $26.91 billion during the first six months of the last fiscal. Inflows during January-March 2023 also contracted 40.55 per cent to $9.28 billion.
