The AAP on Wednesday last had posted a video story on 'X' featuring industrialist Gautam Adani and Prime Minister Modi. The next day, the party posted a picture of Adani and Modi, and alleged that the prime minister works for the industrialist and not the people.
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.
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.
Rao's son K T Rama Rao, a TRS leader said that they are open to a working relationship with the Congress. "Give us some time, and we will work out the modalities and take the next step," he said in this interview with rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa.
With Kiran Kumar Reddy adamant that he will step down as the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh after the announcement on Telangana is made, the Congress is exploring the option of bringing Konijeti Rosaiah, the former CM back to the state to head the government. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
Sources said while the Congress units of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan will hold separate discussions on May 26 on their preparations and actions to be taken, the party will also hold strategy meets on Chhattisgarh on May 27.
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.
IIM Ahmedabad (IIM-A), which had agreed to set up a campus in the state, has not been able to start work due to the political uncertainty caused by the Telangana issue.
Hyderabad, which would be the joint capital of Telangana and the Andhra region for 10 years, could be modelled after Delhi where law and order is handled by the Centre, Congress leader Digvijay Singh has said.
Political crisis in Andhra Pradesh over the proposed Telangana statehood further deepened on Saturday with 20 ministers resigning for the cabinet.
Two Congress members of Parliament from Telangana region have sent back their gunmen to the government saying the people were enough to protect them and they don't need any security.
The UPA managers feel the remaining phase of the Winter Session of Parliament, which will be dominated by the Telangana issue, may actually end up as a repeat of previous sessions. Anita Katyal reports.
With assembly elections due in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram in the next few months, the Congress is working on poll strategies in these states and has convened a meeting of state leaders on May 24.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's daughter and Telangana Rashtra Samiti MLC K Kavitha on Friday said some friends of the Bharatiya Janata Party have approached her to join the party, but she refused the 'offer'.
The Telangana Rashtra Samithi will join hands with the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen to fight the corporation elections together. Vicky Nanjappa reports
The joint statement was issued by senior leaders of 13 opposition parties, including interim president of Congress Sonia Gandhi, the Nationalist Congress Party patriarch Sharad Pawar, and the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Yadav accused the K Chandrasekhar Rao government in the state of floating the gimmick of reservation for minorities while doing no good for any section of society.
Only a constitutional and political crisis can ensure the formation of Telangana, K Chandrasekar Rao, the Chief of the Telangana Rastriya Samithi said in Hyderabad on Tuesday. His were the opening remarks at the Telangana Joint Action Committee meeting that was held on Tuesday to decide on the next course of action to be taken towards the formation of a separate state.
Justice B N Srikrishna, who heads the five-member committee to study the situation in Andhra Pradesh arising out of demand for separate Telangana, has said the final decision will have to be taken by the Centre.
The Congress on Thursday renamed the Rahul Gandhi-led Manipur-Mumbai yatra starting on January 14 as the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, which will travel through 100 Lok Sabha segments in 15 states including Arunachal Pradesh, and asserted it will prove to be as 'transformative' as his earlier cross-country march.
Telangana Rashtra Samiti chief K Chandrasekhar Rao, the political face of the pro-Telangana movement, and his supporters held the sit-in and 'observed silence' at Rajghat for a few hours on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti to highlight the "grave situation" in Telangana region in Andhra Pradesh.
During the all-party meeting on December 7, there had been a consensus over Telangana. On that basis, on December 9, the Centre had in principle decided to create a new state. However, today, the situation in Andhra Pradesh has altered. The parties involved have a difference in opinion. There is a need for more consultations for a consensus to emerge on the issue, Chidambaram said.
Here are the 10 key issues likely to be the centre of discussion in the seven-phase general elections that begin on April 19.
The government on Saturday imposed a 40 per cent duty on the export of onions to increase domestic availability amid signs of increasing prices. The export duty, which is the first time ever on onion, has been imposed as the retail sale price of the kitchen staple, according to government data, touched Rs 37/kg on Saturday in Delhi. The finance ministry through a Customs notification imposed a 40 per cent export duty on onions till December 31, 2023.
The ongoing battle in Seema-Andhra is clearly between the Telegu Desam Party and the YSR Congress. Both parties are doing their best to seize the advantage and the misery of the Congress which is now being accused of splitting the state. Vicky Nanjappa reports
The development comes days ahead of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the state to inaugurate various projects.
'They have no incentive to be part of either the NDA or INDIA at this stage, but they may hedge their bets towards the winning coalition in the post-poll setting.'
24 hours was all it took for the Congress to overturn its decision to boycott the TV debates on the exit poll results. Sudhir Bisht offers an explanation.
Unlike his predecessor Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, who took a tough line against separate Telangana, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah has no personal view on the bifurcation of his state and would like the Centre to find a lasting solution not a "temporary truce".
The Centre's efforts to initiate process of laying a roadmap for creation of Telangana failed with six political parties disagreeing to the Home Minister P Chidambaram's perspective.
'We need to be far more careful given the fact that while this is group lending, it's essentially unsecured.'
'If he has not achieved 'Congress mukt Bharat' even now, the question of his creating a 'DMK mukt Tamil Nadu' does not arise,' points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
The move comes a day after the government called a special session of Parliament between September 18 and 22, the agenda for which is under wraps.
The 1987-batch IPS officer, who retired in DGP rank in 2020, is currently running an NGO, which aims to bring cheers to the marginal sections of the society.
Dismissing speculation of Telangana throwing up a fractured verdict, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi on Friday asserted it would form government with a decisive majority without anybody's support on the back of "strong undercurrent and silent wave".
'There is a huge risk of misinformation and disinformation, and targeted campaigns that could potentially happen against candidates or to push certain narratives.'
Rama Rao's appointment was necessitated as Chandrasekhar Rao will have to concentrate on national politics and also focus on various developmental activities in the state, a release from the chief minister's office said.
The Bharat Nyay Yatra will be mostly covered by bus along with short stretches of walking.
Madhu Goud Yaskhi, a Congress MP from the Telangana region, is an avowed advocate of a separate state. Following Thursday's ruckus, he says there is no guarantee that the Telangana Bill will go through in Parliament.
