saleem Newly-appointed Chief Election Commissioner Veeravalli Sundaram Sampath today assumed
charge of office at the poll panel’s headquarters here.
Mr Sampath is the 18th Chief Election Commissioner. A 1973 batch IAS officer, the 62-year-old Sampath took
over from S Y Quraishi whose term came to an end yesterday.
Mr Sampath, who was appointed as the CEC last week, will preside over the next Lok Sabha Elections in 2014.
The Karnataka High Court Monday set aside the election of J. Shanta as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Lok Sabha member from the Bellary reserved constituency (ST) on charges of irregularities.
Setting aside Shanta’s election due to irregularity in counting of votes, Justice H. Billappa ordered the Election Commission to recount the votes polled in the May 2009 general elections within next four weeks.
Bellary is about 300 km from Bangalore.
Shanta is the younger sister of B. Sriramulu, an independent lawmaker from the Bellary Rural assembly segment and a former BJP minister.
Mounting further pressure on late Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy’s family, the state government Monday cancelled the mining lease given to his son-in-law Anil Kumar.
The government directed the Andhra Pradesh Mineral Development Corp (APMDC) to cancel the lease given to Rakshana Steels, a company promoted by Anil Kumar, for mining over 1.41 lakh acres in Khammam and Warangal districts.
The Karnataka government Monday ordered locking up the ashram near here of controversial Hindu religious guru Nityananda Swami following fresh allegations of sexual exploitation of women against him.
“I have ordered that the ashram be kept under lock,” Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda told reporters. The move came in the wake of increasing demand for its closure.
Gowda said legal steps would be taken to get the bail of Nityananda cancelled, to arrest him if necessary.
YSR Congress chief Jaganmohan Reddy will remain in jail for two more weeks with a CBI court on Monday extending his judicial remand till June 25 in a disproportionate assets case even as the agency sought permission to carry out a lie detection test on him. The court order comes a day before the crucial bypoll to 18 Assembly seats and one Lok Sabha constituency in Andhra Pradesh for which Jagan’s plea to be released on bail for campaign was rejected earlier by the court.
The by-elections to 18 Assembly segments n Andhra Pradesh, slated for Tuesday, is not expected to lead to the fall of Kiran Kumar Reddy government in Andhra Pradesh anytime soon but will certainly give a new direction to the state politics.
The fledgling YSR Congress of Kadapa MP YS Jaganmohan Reddy has emerged as the biggest threat to the ruling party from which he walked out in November, 2010, while the principal opposition Telugu Desam Party is unable to cash in on the strong anti-incumbency against the eight-year-old Congress rule.
The Lok Satta Party on Monday welcomed the Government directive to AP Mining Development Corporation to cancel the lease agreement with Rakashana Steels on iron ore mines spread over 1.41 lakh acres in Khammam and Warangal districts.
Lok Satta Party leaders DVVS Varma and P Bhaskara Rao said in a media statement said the agreement was flawed on many counts including lease of areas in Scheduled areas to ineligible entities.
The Principal Sessions Court here on Monday extended the judicial remand of evangelist and Praja Shanti party founder K A Paul till June 25. He was arrested for allegedly conspiring to murder his brother David Raju.
The Sessions court announced this decision after the officials produced Paul in the court following expiry of his remand.
The stage is all set for the conduct of by-elections for 18 assembly and one Lok Sabha seats in the State on June 12.
Telangana Rashtra Samithi on Sunday alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party was having secret ties with the YSR Congress party in the ensuing by-elections.
Police in Andhra Pradesh’s Warangal district Sunday arrested slain Maoist leader Azad’s wife Padma, alias Sitakka, and six other women Maoists.
Padma, leader of women’s wing of Communist Party of India-Maoist, and others were arrested in Khanapuram village in Warangal district, about 250 km from here, when they were heading to attend a meeting of the banned outfit, police said.
Police produced all the arrested before a court in Warangal town.
Congress on Sunday said that it was confident of putting up a good show in the by-polls to the 18 Assembly constituencies and one Lok Sabha seat in Andhra Pradesh on June 12.
“We are confident that we will make an impact. We will put up a good show,” Union Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi, who is also looking after party affairs in the state, told reporters here.
Without hazarding a guess on the number of seats the party would win, he said the Congress is making all efforts to win maximum number of seats.
As many as 94.65 per cent candidates have passed the Integrated Common Entrance Test – 2012 whose results were announced here on Sunday.
Pradesh Congress Committee president Botsa Satyanarayana on Sunday said that he was ready to face a fresh probe into the Volkswagen scam.
The Telugu Desam Party has appealed to the voters to reject Congress and YSR Congress parties in the ensuing by-elections to be held on June 12.
Addressing a press conference at NTR Trust Bhavan here on Sunday, TDP spokesperson A Revanth Reddy said that the both Congress and YSRC leaders were involved in corruption and have cheated the people. He said the leaders of both the parties would loot the State’s resources if voted to power. Therefore, he said the people should reject both the parties and elected TDP candidates in the by-elections.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Sunday questioned YSR Congress party president YS Jaganmohan Reddy about the alleged hawala transactions that he adopted to bring investments into his group of companies.
The book value of his assets may be only Rs 440 crore but YSR Congress President Y S Jaganmohan Reddy is sitting on a treasure trove of Rs 16.96 lakh crore in the form of lands and mines, the Telugu Desam Party has alleged.
TDP politburo member and Leader of Opposition in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council Dadi Veerabhadra Rao told reporters here today that these assets were not in Jagan’s name but in ‘benami’ including his close relatives and other industrialists.
Vijayawada MP Lagadapati Rajagopal on Saturday accused YSR Congress party president Jagan Mohan Reddy and honorary president Y S Vijayamma for adopting double standards on the bifurcation of State issue.
Nizamabad MP Madhu Yashki Goud on Saturday demanded YSR Congress Party to write a letter to the Centre making its stand clear on the Telangana statehood issue if it was really committed to formation of separate state.
Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday alleged that YSR congress honorary president Y S Vijayamma was shedding ‘crocodile’s tears’ over the arrest of Kadapa MP Jagan Mohan Reddy by the CBI to get mileage in the ensuing by-elections.
YSR Congress party honorary president Y S Vijayamma on Saturday said that the development and welfare of poor and middle class were like two eyes of former chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy.
Addressing an election rally in Ongole, Vijayamma said that YSR gave top priority for the implementation of welfare programmes for poor and middle class. However, she alleged the present government has diluted his schemes citing financial constraints. She asked as to why the Congress party and government were targeting YSR family members and sending them to jail.
The CBI Special Court at Nampally on Friday reserved its orders till June 14 on the petition filed by the CBI seeking to bring former Karnataka minister Gali Janardhan Reddy’s personal assistant Ali Khan on Prisoner Transit (PT) warrant to Hyderabad in connection with the Obulapuram Mining Corporation illegal mining case.
Ali khan is presently lodged in Bangalore jail along with Gali Janardhan Reddy. CBI Judge Justice A Pullaiah reserved the order after completion of arguments and counter arguments from both sides.
The Elections Commission of India on Friday censured Roads and Buildings Minister B Dharmana Prasad for his certain comments against YSR Congress president Jaganmohan Reddy by referring him as a Christian.
Talking to reporters at the State Secretariat, Chief Electoral Officer Bhanwarlal said that the minister made certain comments during by-elections meeting in Ramchandrapuram assembly constituency on June 7. He said the EC has censured the minister for violating the Model Code of Conduct.
Telangana Political Joint Action Committee Chairman Prof M Kodandaram on Friday flagged off a rally supporting the candidature of Telangana Rashtra Samithi Bhikshapathi Goud from the Parkal Assembly constituency.
Telangana Rashtra Samithi Siricilla MLA K Taraka Rama Rao on Friday described YSR Congress president Jagan Mohan Reddy as the ‘most corrupt person’ in the world.
Talking to media persons at TRS Bhavan, Taraka Rama Rao ridiculed the YSR Congress leaders for raising hue and cry over his arrest by the CBI in connection with the disproportionate assets case. He also slammed YSR Congress leaders for comparing Jagan Mohan Reddy with Father of Nation Mahatma Gandhi, who was jailed for participating in freedom fight against the British rule.