Polls on schedule says govt, moves afoot to delay inevitable
The state government on Tuesday, while ruling out any possibilities that the impending elections to Local Bodies could be delayed further, claimed credit for the announcement by the State Election Commission of the poll process.
However, hectic activity is said to be afoot to find a way to delay the polls as the ruling Congress stands to lose out if the elections were held as scheduled.
“There is no question of not holding the Panchayat Raj elections as scheduled and it was due to the initiative taken by the state government that State Election Commissioner Ramakanth Reddy was leveraged to announce the poll process,” said Transport Minister and Pradesh Congress Committee president Botsa Satyanarayana.
Replying to media persons’ questions at the Secretariat, Mr Satyanarayana was emphatic in his assertion that the state government was not shying away from conducting the cited elections.
However, his countenance betrayed the government’s apprehension that the PR polls came as a bolt from the blue.
Sources indicated that the A P Sarpanches’ Association president Ramamohana Reddy would move a Division Bench of the High Court to seek redressal of their grievance – to make it mandatory for the state to abide by the Apex Court’s ruling for a ceiling of 50 per cent on the Quota to weaker sections. As of now, the state wanted to give 34 percent for BCs, 18.30 percent for SCs and 8.25 percent for STs in panchayats and other local bodies.
If not the Division Bench, the sarpanches might as well move the Supreme Court, the sources added. This might lead to another alternative like issue of an ‘Ordinance’ for Special Officers’ appointment. Obviously the state had kept its draft proposal for an ordinance quite ready.
The ‘ordinance’ handle will come in handy for the state to buy sufficient time to influence the grass-root level sarpanches, heads of MPPs and ZPPs.
According to reliable sources, Panchayat Raj Minister K Jana Reddy had also received indications from some Legislators for conducting the panchayat elections on non-party basis.
There was essence in what they had suggested to the PR Minister.
The PR polls which became mandatory for the N Kiran Kumar Reddy government for claiming Central funds to the PR institutions is rather a risky affair particularly after his party’s debacle in Kadapa.
In case of elections held on non-party lines, the state government would be positioned to drag the winners to its side by hook or crook.
On the other hand, if the cited elections were to be held on party symbols, YSR Congress Party president YS Jaganmohan Reddy has been literally waiting in the wings to spread to the grass-root level.
In such an event, the ruling party might lose its face value.
The defiant leader and MP-elect had shown his worth in the bygone by-elections in Kadapa district easing out his rivals both the Congress and TDP candidates who were disqualified to retain their deposits.
Interestingly, there was not a single Minister available for the media to react on the Court’s verdict in the Secretariat today.
Municipal Administration Minister M Mahidhar Reddy, who was available exclusively, jumped the issue and categorically stated that the Municipal Elections would be held as scheduled.
PR Minister K Jana Reddy, who ought to have briefed the press on government version was conspicuous by his absence in the state Secretariat along with his other colleagues.
He was also playing a hide and seek game as a face saving device.(INN)
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Polls on schedule says govt, moves afoot to delay inevitable
2007/9/24 23:35:21 The reshuffle of AICC office bearers and the appointment of Rahul Gandhi as the General Secretary has fuelled the speculation of mid-term elections. The congress party is seen as gearing up for mid-term polls early next year.
Initially it was said that if the Communists parties withdrew support to the government at the centre, ten mid-term polls to Parliament would be inevitable. Bur indications in the state also point out to likely mid-term elections to the state assembly too.
2008/4/16 8:05:13 The election commission has finally drawn up the schedule for the by polls to the seats vacated by the TRS and for Khairatabad where the vacancy has been caused by the untimely death of PJR. The polls will be held on May 29. The nomination process will commence from March 2. The results will be announced on June 1.
So it is going to be a 'really hot' summer this year. The congress party and the TDP have only something to gain but nothing much to lose. The polls are an acid test for KCR as the onus of getting all the MLAs and MPs who resigned recently elected once again rests on him. There is a strong resistance to some of the candidates from within the party.
2011/6/16 5:38:52 Information and Public Relation Minister D K Aruna on Thursday said that the government is willing to conduct the elections for Panchayat Raj institutions, contrary to reports stating that the stay on the polls by a Division Bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court has given the ruling Congress a lifeline.
Talking to media persons after attending the Cabinet meeting at the Secretariat, Ms Aruna asserted that the government was willing to conduct the polls for the PR Institutions, in response to calls for clarifications on the High Court ruling.
Asked to clarify the government stand on the High Court’s recent ruling striking down GO 128 in respect of the quota for BCs, the Minister said that the government was in favour of PR elections in the light of Apex Court’s Order that the ceiling of 50 percent be observed.
Earlier, she made clear that the state Cabinet did not discuss on GO 128 at all. “The government is for polls at any time,” Ms Aruna said.
Meanwhile, official sources say that the government has another month’s time, till July 21, to arrive at a decision to go ahead with the said polls.(INN)
Has chief minister YS Rajashekar Reddy pulled a fast one on TRs chief Chandrashekar Rao. Yes, say some analysts. The TRS MPs and MLAs resigned over the separate Telangana issue. The TRS wants to prove that the Telangana sentiment is very strong by winning back all the seats once again.
KCR has even started his campaign for the by-lections by going on his Thanda Bata. The Election Commission has announced the poll schedule for the Karnataka assembly elections. Everyone expected that the by-polls would be held at the same time as the Karnataka elections.
Now some politicians are expressing doubts if the by-polls would be held at all. Now there is even some talk about advancing the assembly polls. The TRS surely has been caught on the wrong foot for once.
2012/2/14 7:27:36 Unfazed with the delay of the release of his film Nippu, Raviteja is going ahead with his next film Daruvu under the direction of Shiva. Shooting of the film is progressing in Bangkok where the unit is filming some important scenes and songs.
Nearly 50 per cent of the film shooting is complete and plans are afoot for March 15 release.
The film is a socio fantasy in which Tamil actor Prabhu is playing the role of Yama. Taapsee pairs with Ravi Teja in the film, produced by Burgupalli Shivaramakrishna under Sri Venkateswara Entertainments banner. Vijay Anthony is scoring music. (INN)
The just concluded by polls were by far the most interesting and bitterly contested by polls ever in the state. It is none other than the big separate Telangana issue that was the main reason behind the by polls. For KCR, these polls are a do or die battle. The future of KCR as well as that of the TRS hinges on the results of the by polls.
The exit polls have not exactly pleased KCR. Even the pre-poll surveys reported that the TRS was sure to lose some seats.
According to the exit poll results, the TRS may retain about 10 assembly seats from the 16 that it held before the by polls. Out of the four Lok Sabha seats, the TRS is ahead in two and neck and neck in the third seat. So here also, the TRS is set to lose one or two seats.
The ruling congress is expected to bag anywhere between three and four assembly seats and one Lok Sabha seat. Even the TDP is expected to romp home with two or three assembly seats and one Lok Sabha seat.
The counting will begin at 8.00 a.m. on Sunday and the results will be out in about two hours time, i.e.by 10.00 a.m. Till then the guessing game continues and the leaders are all tensed up.
2012/5/6 1:58:24 Ongole, May 6 (INN): Bharatiya Janata Party national secretary Dr K Laxman on Sunday predicted the fall of Kiran Kumar Reddy Government after the by-elections.
Talking to reporters here, Dr Laxman said that the State administration was in bad shape in the State and it would deteriorate further after the announcement of by-elections' results. He said the misadministration and political uncertainty would lead to the collapse of Kiran Kumar Reddy Government after the by-polls.
The BJP leader also alleged that thousands of acres of land belonging to farmers was alienated to the private companies by the successive governments. He said former chief ministers YS Rajasekhara Reddy and N Chandrababu Naidu were two sides of the same fabric and both of them indulged in irregularities to favour private companies. The Comptroller General of India in its recent report has revealed that about 88,000 acres of lands has been alienated to the private companies in violation of the rules, he said.
Dr Laxman announced that the BJP would contest from a majority of 18 assembly seats where by-elections would be held on June 12. While expressing confidence of winning the elections, he said the by-polls would also help the party to guage the sentiments related to separate Telangana and united Andhra Pradesh.
2011/9/23 5:15:52 Finance Minister Anam Ramnarayana reddy on Friday stated that the general strike of Telangana employees would not have much impact on the State's exchequer.
Talking to media persons after participating in a programme at Golden Jubilee Hall at the District Collectorate, the Finance Minister stated that general strike have not yet affected the financial resources. However, it would delay in mobilizing resources in Telangana region only and implementation of welfare schemes would got delayed. "Except for delay in tax collections from Telangana region, there would not be much affect on the exchequer," he pointed out.
The Minister assured the farmers that irrigation water for khariff season would be released from October 15 onwards in the district. He asked the farmers to get ready for khariff operations. (INN)
2011/9/6 8:38:21 The Election Commission of India on Tuesday announced election schedule for the by-polls to Banswada assembly constituency in Nizamabad district. Banswada seat fell vacant after Pocharam Sirnivas, a Telugu Desam Party MLA resigned from the party and post to join the Telangana Rashtra Samithi.
According to the notification, the voting for Banswada Assembly constituency will be held on October 13. As per the calendar, the election notification will be issued on September 19. The last date for filing of nomination will be September 26 and withdrawal of nominations is September 29.
The counting of votes will be taken up on October 17. According to sources, Pocharam Srinivas might contest on Telangana Rashtra Samithi ticket this time. (INN)
The crucial by polls in Kadapa and Pulivendula will be held tomorrow. The situation in Kadapa is tense and the election commission has pressed into service a large number of police personnel in all the places in the two constituencies.
DGP Aravinda Rao stated that all arrangements are in place to conduct polls in a free and fair manner. Additional police forces are being brought in from Tamil Nadu and Kerala to be deployed in Kadapa.
TRS chief K Chandra Shekar Rao claims that the state will go to elections early next year. KCR predicted that there world be snap polls to the state assembly in March 2008. Elections are due only in 2009 but even some congressmen do not rule out advancement of polls in the state.
2011/5/21 9:29:56 Few months back we have reported that Chiranjeevi’s nephew Sai Dharma Teja is making his debut into Tollywood with film ‘Rei,’ and it will be directed by YVS Chowdary under his Bommarillu banner. Recently, the film has completed its 1st schedule at Malaysia and returned home. During this one month schedule major part of the talky and action scenes were completed. Now, the unit is shooting at Hyderabad. Next, it will moves to America on 10th June where rest of the film will be completed.
This film ‘Rei’ also has a tag line-‘Shout for Success.’ Subra Ayyappa is being introduced as heroine of the film. This is a romantic entertainer with music back drop.
Nagesh Kuknoor’s Bombay To Bangkok is releasing this Friday. His next film, the John Abraham starrer Aashayein is also complete and now he will start working on the second schedule of his ambitious project with Akshay Kumar titled Eight By Ten (earlier known as Tasveer ). There were reports doing rounds in the trade circles that Akshay Kumar was not happy with Nagesh during their Canada schedule and had a fight with the director due to the delay in the shoot.
Reacting on it, Nagesh says, “Journalism has entered a new age of fiction. People just manufacture stuff as they want. So the best way to react is not to react at all. Sometimes the stories are written without substantial justification or verification.”
He agrees that there were some issues on the location but denied reports that Akshay Kumar had any problems with him. “There was a location issue but that had nothing to do with Akshay. The local location managers screwed up so it got delayed but Akshay and I were totally unrelated to this issue”, explains Nagesh.
But didn’t the schedule go haywire? “The schedule didn't go as per the plan, so what? We will find the next schedule and start the film.” Confronting the issue regarding Akshay he says, “If there were any problems between Akshay and me, we wouldn’t have worked together. But we are shooting in January again.”
Talking about his film Nagesh says, “ Eight By Ten is a thriller. Akshay Kumar and Ayesha Takia are apt for the film as they have not been paired yet and they were perfect for their characters”.
2008/5/12 2:09:34 The ensuing by polls are turning out to be a big source of worry and headache to the TRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao. Many TRS activist themselves are saying of the record that the party will not be able to retain all the 16 assembly seas and the four parliament seats.
The reasons for the setback are being put squarely at the door of KCR. He is being blamed to have forced the MLAs to quit and go in for fresh polls. Many TRS MLAs have a pos rerecord as legislators in the last fours years. The people in their consistencies are none to happy with their track record.
KCR’s highhandedness and internal bickering will cost the party dearly, say some senior TRS men. By current indications, the TRS is facing an uphill task in two Lok Sabha and eight assembly constituencies i.e. in 50 percent of the seats.
The state government on Monday decided to opt for the safest way out after being caught in a flux over the question of providing reservations for the Backward Classes in the coming Local Body elections by retaining the existing 34 per cent quota for BC candidates.
The decision to retain the existing 34 per cent quota was taken after a Group of Ministers, comprising of Panchayat Raj Minister K Jana Reddy, Social Welfare Minister Pithani Satyanarayana, and Backward Classes Welfare Minister Basavaraju Saraiah met at the Secretariat to discuss the contentious issue.
The Minister discussed the ‘issue’ threadbare and decided in favour of conducting the cited PR elections, retaining the 34 per cent reservations to the Backward Classes candidates.
Mr Jana Reddy, who briefed the media persons in his chambers later, said that the said quota for BCs would be retained no matter whether 34 per cent quota inclusion would exceed the Apex Court’s ceiling.
Asked whether the Apex Court ruling which specified 50 per cent quota in the local body elections would be jumped, the Minister clarified “We will look into it later.”
Replying to another question, Mr Jana Reddy stated that that the elections will go ahead as schedule.
2012/1/7 15:11:01 Eamcet 2012 will be conducted by JNTU on May 12 and there will be no change in the pattern of examination.
This was announced by the Andhra Pradesh State Council for Higher Education (APSCHE), Chairman K Prakasa Rao here on Saturday.
The ICET, for admission to MBA and MCA courses, will be conducted on May 18 by Andhra University, while ECET for common engineering and pharmacy courses will be conducted by JNTU, Kakinada on May 24. EDCET for BEd courses will be held on June 8 by Osmania University, he said.
The entrance for PG courses will be conducted from June 8.
He said the notifications for all the entrance tests will be issued in the first week of February and all examinations will be conducted on Saturday contrary to earlier mode of Sunday.
The chairman said that there will be no changes in the examination pattern of EAMCET this year and plans are afoot to accept applications online from this year onwards. The schedule does not clash with National level examinations, he added. (INN)
2012/3/27 8:39:33 New Delhi, March 27 (IANS) The shooting of "Dhoom: 3" will begin in May and Aamir Khan will join the cast and crew as per schedule, clarifies Yash Raj Films (YRF).
A leading daily reported that the shooting of the film had been indefinitely postponed and that it would be shot after Aamir completes work on Rajkumar Hirani's next.
"This is absolutely baseless," said a press statement issued by YRF Tuesday. "'Dhoom: 3' starts shooting in May 2012 and Aamir Khan joins the schedule in June as per plan."
Produced by Aditya Chopra, the film is written and directed by Vijay Krishna Acharya, who had written "Dhoom" and "Dhoom 2".
Apart from Aamir, who plays the anti-hero in the film, the film will star Katrina Kaif along with Abhishek Bachchan and Uday Chopra who played Jai Dixit and Ali, respectively, in the last two movies.
The immersion of Lord Ganesh idols at Hussain Sagar Lake was completed on Monday with the delay of over four hours.
City’s biggest Khairtabad Ganesh idol was immersed in the morning while the last few idols were immersed at around 2 pm. Talking to reporters on Monday, City Police Commissioner A K Khan thanked the general public, police and other departments and the media for their role in ensuring the successful conduct of annual Ganesh immersion procession. He attributed the delay in Ganesh immersion procession to increasing number of idols and statues this year for the festival.
Advising the Ganesh Utsav committees to stick to the schedule from next year, he said effective time management could avoid delay in immersion of idols and also the traffic snarls on city roads.
Delay in immersion of idols at Hussainsagar Lake led to traffic jams on several roads on Monday morning. Hundreds of trucks returning after the immersion caused traffic jams at several places, especially on the stretch from Khairtabad to Ameerpet. Monday being a working day, the office-goers and students faced a lot of hardship due to the traffic snarls on several routes.
The Police Commissioner expressed regret over the inconvenience caused to the general public due to traffic jams and promised that steps would be taken to ensure that such glitches are avoided in future.
Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Mayor Banda Karthika Chandra Reddy and Commissioner MT Krishna Babu also thanked the general public for their cooperation. The commissioner also praised the services rendered by his department for the immersion of Ganesh idols. (INN)
2008/4/17 14:41:50 The Telugu Desam Party chief Chandra Babu Naidu is very optimistic about the chances of the TDP in the ensuing by polls. He says that the fight would be mainly between the TRS and the TDP. The congress party is nowhere in the picture.
Babu is confident that the TDP will put up a good show in the by polls and surprise everyone. Babu reasons that both the TRS and the congress have taken the people for a ride by making false promises.
2011/9/10 7:45:48 The 20-point programme chairman N Tulasi Reddy clarified that the Congress party was yet to decide on whether or not to field a candidate in the Banswada by-election.
Talking to reporters here on Saturday, Tulasi Reddy said that the party would take decision at an appropriate time regarding Banswada by-polls. He was apparently trying to counter the Telangana Congress Steering Committee's decision to boycott the Banswada by-polls. With this statement, he tried to clarify that the Steering Committee's decision was not official and the party high command would take its own decision on the issue.
Banswada seat fell vacant after MLA Pocharam Srinivas Reddy quit the TDP to join Telangana Rashtra Samithi. For by-polls Pocharam will be the official candidate of TRS and with the Telangana sentiments running high, it is being assumed that all parties including the TDP, BJP and Congress together would ensure his unanimous election. (INN)
Unfazed with the delay of the release of his film Nippu, Raviteja is going ahead with his next film Daruvu under the direction of Shiva. Shooting of the film is progressing in Bangkok where the unit is filming some important scenes and songs.
Finance Minister Anam Ramnarayana reddy on Friday stated that the general strike of Telangana employees would not have much impact on the State's exchequer.
Eamcet 2012 will be conducted by JNTU on May 12 and there will be no change in the pattern of examination.
The 20-point programme chairman N Tulasi Reddy clarified that the Congress party was yet to decide on whether or not to field a candidate in the Banswada by-election.
