No takers for Jagan,s campaign bill

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Congress candidates in Guntur and Prakasam districts had no problems with chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy’s son Jaganmohan Reddy
campaigning for them, but with the EC authorities breathing down their necks, they have virtually disowned him.

The election authorities in these two districts are gunning for the Congress candidates because, as per rules, the expenditure of only officially designated star campaigners of each party would go into the party’s account. In all other cases, it will go into the individual candidate’s account. Jagan does not figure in the list of star campaigners submitted by the Congress to the EC.

The Congress candidates are now in a dilemma because if Jagan’s election expenditure, including the cost of hiring the chopper which took him across the two districts, is added to the candidate’s expenditure, all of them exceed the limit prescribed by the EC.

Jagan had toured the districts on April 8 and 9 and visited as many as 10 assembly constituencies. After he campaigned, the local election authorities issued notices to the Congress candidates to foot the bill of his campaign and reflect them in their books.

But in an about turn, none of the candidates have owned up to Jagan campaigning for them. But this may not cut ice with the election officials as there is overwhelming evidence to prove that Jagan had campaigned for them.

The CM’s son first arrived at Kanigiri constituency in helicopter, reached Ongole by road and took off from Ongole the next day to reach Macherla in Guntur. He conducted roadshows from Macherla and reached Guntur in the night. He left Guntur in the chopper on the third day of his tour. Initially, Prakasam district collector K Devanand issued notices to Kanigiri Congress candidate M U Narasimha Reddy, Ongole assembly candidate B Srinivasa Reddy and Ongole LS candidate Magunta Srinivasula Reddy seeking explanation for not showing the helicopter costs in their expenditure records.

While the assembly candidates replied that they would account for only the roadshow costs, Ongole MP Magunta went to the extent of saying that Jagan had not ‘campaigned’ on his behalf. Similarly, Macherla Congress candidate P Ramakrishna Reddy replied that the permission for Jagan’s tour was not taken by him and hence his tour costs shall not be included in his accounts book.

Sources said the permission for Jagan’s tour was taken by the respective district Congress committees in both the districts. In such case, the chopper costs would be divided among all the contesting candidates in the district, said a senior official. He, however, said they would wait for the advice of the Election Commission in this regard
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Cong may project Ponnala as CM

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Admitting for the first time that Congress may not get the simple or absolute majority in Andhra Pradesh as has been claimed by chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, the party high command is putting together a contingency plan for a Congress-led coalition government in the state with a new person as the CM instead of Rajasekhara Reddy. Highly-placed sources from New Delhi told TOI that this was the sum and substance of the exercise of the Congress high command on Tuesday, a day of hectic political activity in the party, which saw party president Sonia Gandhi hold separate meetings with Rajasekhara Reddy and PCC president D Srinivas. Rajasekhara Reddy, who arrived in New Delhi two days ago, has held a series of meetings with the party’s central leaders since then. According to the sources, during his meeting with Sonia’s political secretary Ahmed Patel on Monday, the CM again expressed confidence that the party will get about 230 assembly seats and 36 Lok Sabha seats. However, Patel was of the view that this was at variance with the feedback that the high command got from various sources, as well as from AP Congress leaders including D Srinivas. The PCC president was then summoned to New Delhi after which he was granted a separate half-an-hour meeting with the Congress president after her meeting with YSR on Tuesday morning. The contingency plan which was put together by Congress to retain power in AP was that it should explore the possibility of heading a coalition government comprising, apart from the Congress, the TRS and PRP. “The TRS has already sent us feelers. But the only way to make the TRS and PRP to join the coalition is by propping up a BC chief minister. TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao had promised on several occasions of empowering the BCs, while PRP chief Chiranjeevi has been more than vocal about ushering in social justice. Thus by proposing the name of a BC as the next CM, the TRS and PRP will have no choice but to support the Congress in case of a hung assembly which appears to be strong possibility now,” said a central Congress leader. Once such a consensus was broadly arrived at in the Congress high command, the sources said that Rajasekhara Reddy proposed the name of major irrigation minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah, a Telangana Congress and BC leader, as the next CM. “Ponnala has accompanied the CM on his Delhi visit and is perhaps the one or two Telangana Congress leaders close to YSR. Rajasekhara Reddy’s game plan is two-fold. Prop up Ponnala and also deny D Srinivas, another BC leader, the chance of becoming CM,” the sources pointed out and added that Ponnala was also summoned for an audience with Sonia in New Delhi on Tuesday. A day of intense political activity in the Congress also saw other BC leaders from the state, including K Keshava Rao and V Hanumanth Rao, sharpening their swords to scuttle Ponnala’s chances of becoming CM so that they themselves can stake claim for it. With the announcement of the election results still almost three weeks away, this contingency plan in the Congress is likely to gather momentum in the next few days as nobody seems sure of securing a simple majority, leave alone an absolute one.
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PRP will not support any other party

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Praja Rajyam president Chiranjeevi said the question of his party extending support to any other party did not arise since it would ride to power on its own by bagging a minimum of 160 Assembly seats. At a press conference here on Tuesday, the first after polling concluded on April 23, Mr. Chiranjeevi refused to respond to a volley of questions about his possible post-poll allies in the event of a ‘hung’ Assembly. When the queries persisted, he said; “I don’t know how you can continue to question me on the same lines even after I have stated that we are confident of making it alone, without any other party’s help.”
Earlier, he chaired the party’s Political Affairs Committee (PAC) meeting when he reviewed the party’s performance and prospects, interacting with the 14 member-strong committee and other senior leaders. The leaders as well as the party cadres seemed to be full of enthusiasm, bolstered by constituency-level reports. Explaining the basis of his party’s confidence, he said the new voters, who constituted 5.5 per cent of all the voters, were attracted by the Praja Rajyam’s mantra of ‘change’. Besides, a majority of women and youth who were out at the polling booths were also motivated to give the fledgling party a chance.
“People are fed up with the 14-year rule of the Telugu Desam and the Congress. That is why there was silent voting,” he said. The Praja Rajyam president lashed out at the TDP and Congress, accusing them of ‘trying everything in the book against a new party that successfully gained the people’s trust in a few months of its existence’. He accused both the parties of spending crores of rupees and ‘making liquor flow’, in their bid to stop him from winning in Tirupati and Palacole.
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Chiru sings PM’s praises

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The Praja Rajyam president Chiranjeevi, who has been admiring the Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, for quite some time now, went a step ahead on Tuesday and praised the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh.This has given credence to reports that the PR may align with the Congress in forming the government if the latter falls short of numbers to form a government.Chiranjeevi said Dr Manmohan Singh was a “capable person”.The PR chief met members of his party’s political affairs committee, general secretaries and vice-presidents to review the PR’s performance in the polls.Soon after the meeting, when scribes sought to know whom he would prefer as the Prime Minister, Chiranjeevi replied: “I can’t say it now. Nobody ever thought that an efficient person like Dr Singh would emerge as the Prime Minister. Till then we only knew him as the Governor of the RBI. Like Dr Singh, another capable person might emerge after the polls.”When scribes sought to know what Chiranjeevi would do if Dr Singh sought his support after the polls, the PR chief said: “I can’t decide about it alone. All the partners in the front (Fourth Front) will have to take a collective decision on it.”Chiranjeevi again ruled out the possibility of a fractured verdict in the state.He said the Praja Rajyam would win at least 160 Assembly and 20 Lok Sabha seats and form the government.“The large turnout of women and youngsters during the elections is an indication that they voted in favour of the PR. So, I can affirm that the PR would win the elections hands down,” Chiranjeevi maintained.He said the Chief Minister and the Telugu Desam president, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu, are putting up a brave face on their poll performance only to keep the morale of their activists intact.
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D Srinivas casts doubts over Suresh, Shabbir's win

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The names of power minister Mohammed Shabbir Ali and Assembly speaker K R Suresh Reddy were missing in the list of winning candidates prepared by the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) that would be submitted to AICC president Sonia Gandhi, it is learnt. PCC chief Dharmapuri Srinivas, who left for Delhi on Monday with the list, would explain the reasons for the party's poor show in Nizamamabad district to Sonia Gandhi, party sources said here. Of the nine assembly segments that went to the polls on April 16, the PCC chief has mentioned only two candidates — that of himself from Nizamabad urban and S Srinivas Reddy from Balkonda — of coming up trumps. A senior district Congress leader said DS was sure of his victory and that of the son of TRS dissident MLA S Santosh Reddy from Balkonda seat. Curiously, District Congress Committee president Gadugu Gangadhar has claimed that the party would bag all the nine assembly segments and the Nizamabad Lok Sabha seat. Sources said apart from Shabbir and Suresh, the names of sitting MLA Bajireddy Goverdhan Reddy (Bhanswada), Sudarshan Reddy (Bodhan), Janardhan Goud (Yellareddy) and Akula Lalitha (Nizamabad rural) were also missing in the list. "Since these candidates were facing stiff resistance from their opponents, DS did not include their names in the list," a source said. The DCC president said the people would repose faith in the Congress candidates only and elect them with thumping majority. "Thanks to YSR's welfare schemes, pensions, loan waiver for farmers, NREGS, Indiramma houses, Rs 2 kg rice, our party will score a landslide victory," he claimed. However, sources said the PCC chief got the list prepared after a close scrutiny only. "It is a direct fallout of voter antipathy towards the top trio in Nizamabad district that the electoral fortunes of Shabbir, Suresh and for that matter, DS, look bleak," an analyst said. Unlike previous elections when political stalwarts of Congress held on to their seats despite anti-incumbency, the victory of the top leaders is looking doubtful, sources said. Panic-stricken leaders are busy working out statistics of votes polled in favour of the trio from different communities, associations, teachers and employees' unions in villages and mandals in their respective constituencies. "Indeed, Shabbir's position in Kamareddy is on the razor's edge," admitted a senior Congress leader on the condition of anonymity. Sources said the people were fed up with the intrusive politics pursued by minister's brother Mohd Nayeem. "Shabbir was hardly accessible to the local party leaders and cadre. With Nayeem calling the shots, the cadre might have gone for cross voting during the polling," a source said. Though the minister has exuded confidence of retaining Kamareddy assembly seat with over 2,000 vote majority, his Grand Alliance rival Gampa Goverdhan is on cloud nine. He claimed that the people are with him and that he would emerge victorious with a huge margin. "The speaker is feeling the heat much before the May 16 outcome. It looks like the dice is heavily loaded against him," a Congress leader from Armoor said. Sources said notwithstanding the fury of red jowar farmers, non-payment of compensation to Sri Ram Sagar Project (SRSP) evacuated villagers could upset Suresh Reddy's calculations. A four-time MLA, Suresh Reddy shifted to Armoor from his Balkonda constituency in this poll. He is facing a formidable challenge from his aunt and Mahakutami candidate Annapurnamma. Even DS himself is spending sleepless nights as his victory march could come to a grinding halt in Nizamabad urban constituency where a meagre number of 39.54% of votes were polled during the April 16 elections.
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Chiru calls for PAC meet today to discuss post-poll strategy

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The political affairs committee (PAC) of the Prajarajyam would meet at the party office on Tuesday, following a directive from the party president K Chiranjeevi. The 14-member PAC would be meeting for the first time since the completion of general elections, and would take stock of the post-poll situation in the state and at the Centre. Party sources said that the PAC would elicit views of the members on a variety of possibilities, including the game plan to be adopted in case of a hung assembly. On Monday, the party president had a 90-minute discussion with party general secretaries Dr Mitra, P Vinay, Sobha Nagi Reddy and C Malleswara Rao, leaders P Upendra, P Shiv Shanker and Bhuma Nagi Reddy, party spokesperson Vasireddy Padma and party treasurer C Nagaraju. Though none of the leaders wanted to go on record on the deliberations with the party president, it is learnt that the party president wanted them to explore all political options by keeping their cards close to their chest. Strangely, Chiranjeevi is the only party president who has not interacted with the media in the city after the second phase of elections. He has been successfully dodging the media, resulting in lot of speculations. Unconfirmed reports from party sources hint at a possible media conference by Chiranjeevi on Tuesday, only after gathering the much-needed assertive feedback from the crucial PAC meeting. The PAC members include P Shiv Shankar, P Upendra, Ch Harirama Jogaiah, Kotagiri Vidyadhara Rao, Kala Venkata Rao, Yelamanchili Sivaji, KSR Murthy, Katti Padma Rao, C Ramachandraiah, Gyanendra Reddy, Devisetty Srinivas, Kanakarao Madiga, Rajamouli and Ramachandra Naik. Meanwhile, party leader Kala Venkata Rao clarified that the party was confident of securing a clear majority to form the government and ruled out any efforts by the party to scout for political partners. Addressing a press conference on Monday, Rao said the response from the youth and women had been extraordinary across all the three regions in the state. He said feedback from the grassroots level on PRP's electoral prospects was very encouraging, contrary to reports appearing in the media.
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Kaun Banega Andhra ka CM?

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With the successful completion of the second phase of polling, and results to be declared on May 16, it is now time for the guessing game as to who will form the government, who will play the spoilsport and who will be the next Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh.


Interestingly, the three main contenders for the chief minister’s post contested elections from the Rayalaseema district. Incumbent Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy contested the Pulivendula Assembly segment in Kadapa district, which has been represented by him and his family for last three decades.

On the other hand, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) supremo, who ruled the State as chief minister for nine years, contested the Kuppam Assembly segment in Chittoor district which he has been representing since 1989. In fact, Kuppam has been the TDP bastion since the inception of the party in 1983.

Meanwhile, popular actor and chief of the newly-emerged Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) Chiranjeevi contested the Tirupati Assembly segment which had the distinction of being the launch pad of another famous actor-turned-politician Nandamuri Tarakarama Rao in 1983.

The popularity of all the three contenders for the chief minister’s post is not in question, but what needs to be considered is how they are expected to fare in the 2009 Assembly elections. All the three are quite confident of their victory and claim that they are the next chief minister of Andhra Pradesh.

Y S Rajasekhara Reddy’s victory looks to be a foregone conclusion, if the voting pattern is anything to go by.

His old rival, S V Sathish Reddy, is expected to repeat history. The poor performance of the TDP in Pulivendula can be attributed to two factors -- absence of strong leadership coupled with insignificant base of the cadre and absolute dominance of the Rajasekhara Reddy family in the constituency.

In Kuppam, N Chandrababu Naidu is expected to win for the fifth time in a row, but lose the margin of votes, for two factors -- the Congress being able to make considerable inroads into his domain and the delimitation factor which reduced the size of his constituency.

As for Chiranjeevi, who is contesting his maiden election from two places -- Tirupati and Palacole, victory seems to be his if lady luck smiles upon him in Palacole where he is expected to win by a slight margin. If the efforts of Chiranjeevi in Tirupati, where he personally monitored the entire election process, pay off, he is sure to win.

Further, last-minute blunders of his opponent B Karunakar Reddy of the Congress like the intimidation drama at a private hotel where the PRP chief was staying, and continuous shadowing of Chiranjeevi on the polling day by Congress cadre and the Congress nominee himself, are expected to prove advantageous to the PRP chief.

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TRS to camp in Delhi to explore post-poll options

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Telangana Rashtra Samiti President and former Union Labour Minister K Chandrasekar Rao will be camping in New Delhi for the next ten days to explore various options before the party in the post-poll situation.’’The party is ready to align with any political party or coalition that declares support to

the formation of Telangana state,’’ party sources said ahead of the visit to the national capital. ’’While our leader will leave for New Delhi later today, we will join him in a day or two,’’ a former Minister, who took part in the internal discussions, said.The TRS President would use his New Delhi visit to try and meet, among others, BJP Prime

Ministerial candidate L K Advani and senior Congress leaders, including its President Sonia Gandhi.Mr Rao, who was earlier scheduled to go to Delhi yesterday, postponed his trip as senior leaders of other parties were busy with the next round of Lok Sabha elections on April 30.The party, which made an indepth analysis of the voting pattern in the two-phase elections, hoped that the TDP-led four party alliance, which included the TRS and the two Communist parties, would get majority to form the Government.

The party would press for passage of Assembly resolution, urging the Centre to expedite the process of formation of separate Telangana state. The party would have no problem in supporting the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance Government as the BJP had promised in its manifesto to hasten the process of creation of separate Telangana within 100 days if voted to power.

Mr Rao would meet leaders of various parties and seek support for creation of Telangana state.Meanwhile, TRS leaders, led by former Ministers N Narasimha Reddy, T Harish Rao, A Chandrasekar and party MP B Vinod Kumar, celebrated the party formation day at Telangana Bhavan, the party headquarters, by offering floral tributes to ’’Telangana Talli’’ statue.

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TRS chief begins lobbying for separate Telangana

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Confident of a good show in both the Lok Sabha and state assembly elections, Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao Sunday left for Delhi to lobby for separate statehood to the Telangana region.


Even before the completion of the election process in most parts of the country, the TRS has launched efforts not only to keep its flock together but also to lobby at the centre and mount pressure on its ally Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in the state. KCR, as the TRS chief is popularly known, left for the national capital to meet leaders of various parties to seek support for a separate Telangana state. During a week-long stay, he will meet prime ministerial candidate of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) L.K. Advani and leaders of other parties.

Though a part of the third front along with the TDP, KCR told reporters Saturday that he was ready for post-poll alliance with any party or alliance in the state and at the centre if it backs the demand for a separate Telangana. The BJP has already promised that it would carve out a separate Telangana within 100 days if voted to power at the centre.

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