New Delhi: Congress on Saturday said the issue of separate Telangana does not form part of the UPA's national agenda and it only concerned the state government- remarks which may cause consternation in Andhra Pradesh. "The issue does not form party of the national agenda of UPA. It definitely does not form part.... It concerns the state government", party spokesman PC Chacko told reporters at the AICC briefing.
Chacko's remarks came in response to questions when a decision on the long delayed issue of Telangana is expected. Telangana is a sensitive issue in Andhra Pradesh where all parties are divided on regional lines in the matter.
In January 2012, Chacko as Congress spokesman had spoken differently. "Congress is for Telangana. It is only an issue of time. A decision has to be taken... it has to have a constitutional basis. That (process) has to be completed now," he had said days after the January 28 deadline set by Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde for a decision on the issue had lapsed.
Proponents of a separate Telangana state feel that the agreements, plans, and assurances from the legislature and Lok Sabha over the last fifty years have not been honoured, and as a consequence Telangana has remained neglected, exploited, and backward. They allege that the experiment of Andhra Pradesh to remain as one state has proven to be a futile exercise and that separation is the best solution....
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08:53 PM, May 18, 2013
New Delhi: The Congress on Saturday ruled out change of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the run up to next Lok Sabha elections but steered clear of questions whether he would again be at the helm if the UPA-III comes to power. In reply to questions about change of the Prime Minister soon and holding of early Lok Sabha elections, Congress spokesman PC Chacko said "please do not think of...
07:50 PM, May 18, 2013
Thiruvananthapuram: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday launched a scathing attack on the opposition parties for stalling the Food Security Bill in Parliament, and asserted the UPA government was determined to enact the legislation for the benefit of people. "I am sad that the opposition is acting against the interests of the poor Indian...I can understand politics. But I cannot understand political parties hurting the poor of the country," Rahul...
07:14 PM, May 18, 2013
Ahmedabad: After a U-turn by the Gujarat government on the death penalty for former minister Maya Kodnani and nine others, convicted in 2002 Naroda Patiya riot case, the SIT has decided to seek Supreme Court's guidance on the issue. "Very soon, we are going to file an application before the special bench of the Supreme Court apprising it about the recent Gujarat Government's decision to withdraw the sanction for filing...
06:42 PM, May 18, 2013
Bangalore: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday said the session of the Karnataka Legislature is likely to be convened for a few days from May 29. After expanding the ministry inducting 28 members, he chaired a Cabinet meeting and told reporters later, "Most likely the Legislature session will be convened from May 29." He said senior Congress leader and former Minister Kagodu Thimmappa would be elected as the Speaker of the...
05:54 PM, May 18, 2013
Kolkata: West Bengal chit fund scam accused Sudipta Sen and Arvind Chauhan have been remanded to judicial custody till May 22. The court has reserved order on the third accused Debjani Mukherjee as she is in hospital. Mukherjee was admitted after complaining of stomach ailment. Meanwhile, Congress workers protested in Kolkata against TMC leader Kunal Ghosh, who is alleged to have links in the case. On Friday, the manager and...
04:23 PM, May 18, 2013
Bangalore: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday expanded his Cabinet with the induction of 28 Ministers. Twenty were made Cabinet Ministers and eight Ministers of State. They were administered oath of office by Governor HR Bhardwaj at a ceremony at Glass House at Raj Bhavan. Those made Cabinet ministers are RV Deshpande, Qamar-ul-Islam, Prakash B Hukkeri, Ramalinga Reddy, TB Jayachandra, B Ramanath Rai, HK Patil, Shamanur Shivashankarappa, V Srinivasa Prasad,...
11:24 AM, May 18, 2013
Bangalore: 29 MLAs will be inducted on Saturday into the newly elected Congress government in Karnataka at Raj Bhawan. Of the 121 Congress MLAs elected in May 5 Assembly elections, more than 50 are former ministers. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah who took the oath on May 13 brought the Congress to power after seven-year hiatus in the state. 29 ministers will be sworn in at Raj Bhavan, the 64-year-old Chief Minister...
08:35 AM, May 18, 2013
New Delhi: The BJP on Friday hit back at Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi for his remarks that the Opposition was responsible for the UPA's failure to pass the Food Security Bill, saying the UPA government should emulate the Chhattisgarh Food Security Act. The Bharatiya Janata Party said the Chhattisgarh Food Security Act covers a higher proportion of the population and provides foodgrain at a cheaper cost. "If the Congress...
04:12 AM, May 18, 2013
Chandigarh: In the wake of alleged political violence in the state, Punjab Congress on Friday demanded the resignation of deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal saying, he was the main architect behind "political murders and growth of mafias". "Sukhbir is a total failure as state's home minister and he has no right to continue in power. "Punjab is heading to a state of total anarchy as no rule of law...
03:50 AM, May 18, 2013
New Delhi: Delhi BJP on Friday took to streets to protest against scarcity of water in various parts of the city during summer and blamed poor water management by Congress government for the situation. BJP activists led by Delhi unit chief Vijay Goel held a demonstration near ITO with police using water cannons and lathicharge to disperse them. "The crisis is so acute and the common people are in such...
01:33 AM, May 18, 2013
New Delhi: A meeting of Congress leaders from Union Territories convened by Rahul Gandhi on Friday saw strong pleas to make the Union Home Ministry pro-active to resolve the problems faced by the areas ahead of Lok Sabha polls. The leaders from Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Andaman and Nicobar islands, Lakshdweep, Daman and Diu as also Chandigarh impressed upon the Congress Vice President that since the Home Ministry is administering...
01:18 AM, May 18, 2013
Bhubaneswar: With investors across Odisha demanding action against the chit fund companies which duped them of crores of rupees, opposition BJP and Congress on Friday respectively demanded judicial probe and CBI investigation into the matter. "As one chief of an accused chit fund company has said that some ministers and MLAs are hand-in-glove with him to cheat people, the government must reveal their names and announce a judicial probe into...
11:01 PM, May 17, 2013
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) National Convener Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday attacked Law Minister Kapil Sibal over Vodafone tax case and said all the corrupt ministers have joined the Group of Ministers on CBI autonomy. ...
10:48 PM, May 17, 2013
New Delhi: BJP on Friday made clear its reservation over the Food Security Bill being keenly pushed by the government, saying it is a "half-hearted attempt", and hit back at Rahul Gandhi for saying opposition was stalling it. Till now BJP had said it was disrupting Parliament in the second phase of the Budget session due to more pressing matter of resignation of two Union ministers - PK Bansal and...
10:11 PM, May 17, 2013
New Delhi: Congress top brass, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and party chief Sonia Gandhi, on Friday deliberated on the way ahead on the issue of Food Security Bill. All options were considered, was the response of party sources who said no decision has been taken about the future course of action on the ambitious legislation as also on the Land Acquisition Bill. Food Minister KV Thomas was specially invited...
09:28 PM, May 17, 2013
Jammu: BJP on Friday said the Congress-led UPA should declare its Prime Ministerial candidate first and whether Rahul Gandhi is a stakeholder for the top job or not. While insisting that BJP Parliamentary Board will take a decision regarding its PM candidate at an appropriate time BJP national general secretary and former Gujarat Home Minister Amit Shah said, since UPA was in power, it should first take a decision in...
07:28 PM, May 17, 2013
Chandigarh: A day after one person was killed immediately after an election rally in Bhatinda district, two more were gunned down on Friday in a village in Amritsar in an exchange of fire between two groups, pushing the toll in the run up to the May 19 panchayat polls in Punjab to four. Tension was brewing between two groups in Chak Mishri Khan village over a consensus to elect the...
05:43 PM, May 17, 2013
Sultanpur: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Varun Gandhi is staking claim to his father's legacy. Addressing a rally in Sultanpur, a Congress bastion, on Thursday, the BJP General Secretary made an emotional appeal to voters. This came even as the UP government is facing flak for allegedly letting him off in the 2009 hate speech cases. Varun Gandhi's first public meeting came in Sultanpur, the same district that elected his...
08:47 AM, May 17, 2013
Jaipur: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Thursday hit out at the BJP, which has called the CBI case against its leader Gulabchand Kataria politically motivated, saying that the party has double standards. "When CBI launches an investigation into a Congress leader they (the BJP) always demand their resignation, and if the agency tries to investigate a case against a BJP leader, they claim that it is being done at...
05:12 AM, May 17, 2013
