Union Minister Vayalar Ravi, who is currently on a visit to Andhra Pradesh to take stock of the prevailing situation in the Congress in the wake of its sagging popularity, met actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi in Hyderabad on Wednesday.
The Election Commission is set to conduct 17 by-polls in Andhra Pradesh, according to highly-placed sources. The impending president election is the main reason for the hurry is conducting the assembly by-polls, said the sources, as protocol demands that no assembly or Parliament seat should be vacant during the election of the President of India.
A local court on Thursday denied bail to G Shirish Bharadwaj, son-in-law of actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi, who is facing dowry harassment charges. The 8th additional metropolitan sessions court, however, granted anticipatory bail to Shirish's mother T N Suryamangala on certain conditions.
G Shirish Bharadwaj, the son-in-law of actor turned politician Chiranjeevi, was on Friday remanded to two-day police custody by a local court in connection with a dowry harassment case.
This is straight out of a Tollywood potboiler; only, this one does not end so well. Sirish Bhardwaj, the son-in-law of actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi, on Wednesday surrendered before a local court after evading arrest for over four months in a dowry harassment case.
The Congress party in Andhra Pradesh seems all set to unleash two aces to counter actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi's juggernaut.
Actor turned politician Chiranjeevi got a taste of the murkier side of politics on Tuesday, when workers of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti pelted eggs at the megastar at Narsampeta in Warangal district. Smeared in egg yolk, Chiranjeevi was forced to make an unscheduled stop at a school to take a bath. "This is not good, not proper. You should not indulge in such things," Chiranjeevi said even as his security guards tried to shield him.
The fledgling Praja Rajyam Party headed by actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi on Friday accused the Congress government in Andhra Pradesh of resorting to "dirty tricks" and tapping the telephones of some its top leaders.
Actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi has chosen the sun as the election symbol for his Praja Rajyam Party. The Election Commission of India today issued the orders, allotting the new symbol to the 11-month-old party. Disappointed with the party's electoral performance, in which it won only 18 assembly seats, the megastar decided to change the symbol.
In his latest film Satyameva Jayate, Rajasekhar has taken a not-so-subtle potshot at fellow actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi.Playing an angry policeman fighting a corrupt system, Rajasekhar rebukes another character, "Why are you using Mother Teresa's photograph for your benefit? Don't you have any identity of your own?"During his much-hyped entry into politics, Chiranjeevi has cited Mother Teresa as one of his inspirations.
Actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi on Monday virtually ruled out having any alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party in the state elections, asserting that his newly floated Praja Rajyam is a secular party."We will not align with them because ours is a secular party," he told reporters. Observing that options are open for talking to all secular parties, he said that a decision would be taken only after the elections are announced.
Actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi met Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswamy in New Delhi on Monday to seek a common symbol for his party Praja Rajyam. Chiranjeevi, who was accompanied by former union minister P Shivshankar, submitted a memorandum to the Election Commission, requesting that the rules for issuing a common symbol be amended. As per the EC's rules, a regional political party needs to secure six per cent of the votes and two elected representatives.
Actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi has landed in trouble over an inter-caste marriage as the police have registered a case of kidnapping against him, based on the complaint of the bride's parents. But the bride Nalini, an engineering graduate, has denied the charge and said that she had married the boy on her own accord. Chiranjeevi, who launched his Praja Rajyam party less than a fortnight ago, had attended the wedding at the invitation of Rao, who is a member of his party.
Chiranjeevi came across K Balakrishna Naidu at his office while interacting with his fans. Other fans drew his attention to Balakrishna, who had been patiently waiting for him for some hours.In a spontaneous move, Chiranjeevi took the physically challenged youth inside the office and sat with him on a sofa to talk to him. As the visitor had difficulty and had to repeat himself several times to make himself audible, the actor leaned closer to him.
Stepping up its attack on actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi, the ruling Congress in Andhra Pradesh today said the Praja Rajyam president is asking for a chance for his party out of lust for power.
Telugu actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi on Monday said he would spell out his stand on the Telangana statehood demand with more clarity after studying the issue in detail.Replying to a query over allegations in some quarters that he lacked clarity on some important issues including Telangana, he denied the charge and said there is nothing wrong in taking time to study the issue."
As a precursor to his political entry, Balakrishna on Friday inaugurated an 'Annadanam' (mass feeding) programme at the charitable trust named after his mother late Basava Tarakam, on Thursday. Replying to a query, he vowed to work for regaining the glory of TDP. He would participate in TDP's youth convention at Guntur later this month.
The film stars in Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu's family have rallied together to counter the growing political threat from actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi. At a closed door meeting between Naidu and the four film stars in his family on Sunday, a strategy was chalked out to take on Chiranjeevi in the next elections. The meeting was attended by popular actor Balakrishna, his brother TDP MP and actor Harikrishna and film star sons NTR Junior and Kalyan Ram.
After stating openly that the Telugu Desam Party would fight the elections without the Bharatiya Janata Party in Seemandhra, TDP supremo Chandrababu Naidu has now agreed to keep the alliance alive.
A look at star arrivals.
N Chandrababu Naidu and his Telugu Desam party face a dilemma of how to woo both sides of the Andhra Pradesh divide, reports Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa
In what started off as a one-sided skirmish in Seemandhra now is promising to become a full-fledged battle. There are only two players here -- the Telugu Desam Party and the YSR Congress Party -- and it is going to be a direct battle between them. Vicky Nanjappa reveals finds out the ground level situation for these two parties, and more interestingly how they are both fighting for the fallen legacy of the Congress in order to win the battle.
Following the Bharatiya Janata Party-Telugu Desam Party alliance, tempers are flying high, with each side saying that they could manage without another. BJP supporters often question as to why their leadership does not break the alliance instead of putting up with TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu's tantrums. Vicky Nanjappa reports
At places in the border districts of Barmer and Jaisalmer, people walked miles through the desert to cast their votes.
From being the hand-picked choice of Sonia Gandhi as Andhra Pradesh chief minister to sitting on a dharna in Delhi against division of the state, Nallari Kiran Kumar Reddy has turned from a Congress regional leader to a disgruntled rebel in his nearly 39-month tumultuous tenure.
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