Samajwadi Party selects Akhilesh Yadav as new Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh

                                                              
Lucknow:  Akhilesh Yadav, 38, will be the new Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. He will also be the youngest ever to hold that position. Mr Yadav's name was proposed by senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan at legislative party meeting now on in Lucknow.

Even as the Samajwadi Party huddled once more to nominate Akhilesh Yadav as the next chief minister of UP, a clash between SP and BSP workers claimed one more life in Hardoi on Saturday taking the toll to 11.

In fresh clash between Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party workers in Hardoi one person died and five were injured on Saturday.
Ten people have died in several cases of violence in various districts of the state since the announcement of assembly poll results on Tuesday.
Most of the cases of violence are fallout of clash between supporters of Samawadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
The police have gone into a virtual inertia while waiting for the change of the guard at the chief minister's office and police headquarters.
On Tuesday DGP Atul directed superintendents of police of all districts to take preventive measures to check violence. The officers were also told to make special plan to maintain peace during Holi. However, the DGP's directive had little impact on the officers.
In Jhansi on Tuesday, SP workers broke the barricade and tried to barge into a counting centre. They also beat up media persons and broke their cameras. The Jhansi incident was an indication of things to come.
Violence continued unabated in various districts on Wednesday, Thursday and even Friday. In Reusha area of Sitapur district the house of one Mansukh, a dalit, was set afire by SP men on Thursday.
Though cops said the 'clash' was over lifting of cow dung, Mansukh and his family members said SP supporters had threatened him with dire consequences if did not vote for SP.
Munna, son of transport minister and senior BSP leader Ramachal Rajbhar, shot at and injured Anil Verma, an SP supporter in Basauli village in Ambedkar Nagar district.
In Makdumpur village of Bhadohi district SP men set afire the house of one Gughai on Wednesday. Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi has visited the dalit village during election campaigning.
Two persons were shot dead in Sisaiya Maganpur village in Bareilly district on Thursday.
In another incident a clash between SP and BSP supporters claimed the life of two persons in Naini area of Allahabad district.
As incidences of violence started pouring in chief secretary Anoop Mishra and DGP Atul were summoned at the SP office. Sources said party national president Mulayam Singh Yadav and state president Akhilesh Yadav told the officers to crack down on goons.
Mishra chaired a meeting of officers to review the law and order situation and directed them to take strict action against goons.
ADG (law and order) Subesh Kumar Singh said, "the SPs and DIGs have been directed to maintain vigil and take action against mischief mongers".
Even as cops geared up to tackle violence one Munna Lal was beaten to death allegedly by SP supporters in Bah area of Agra district.

Bypolls: Cops seize more cash at checkposts

                                                                     
The money is suspected to be used for distribution to voters in the byelections in Telangana region. Elsewhere, the police seized 2.5 kg of gold at the Nellore-Kadapa border in an RTC bus from two persons. The cops are yet to ascertain whether the gold was meant for the purpose of trade or is linked to the byelections. Checkposts have been set up in Nellore and Telangana districts that are going for bypolls on March 18. All DSPs have been asked to take stringent action against the cash flow during elections.
With the byelection date fast approaching, there is an increase in the seizures of cash at checkposts.
The Mahbubnagar police took a person into custody at Devarakadra checkpost after seizing Rs 10 lakh in cash from him. The cops found the cash in a vehicle suspected to be belonging to a political party. The police also seized `10 lakh in cash in another case at Kammarapally in Nizamabad district.

Groupism to the prow in Congress

                                                                    

The groups clearly displayed the conflicting interests of the two leaders much to the embarrassment of Mr. Vasan and Port Chairman Ajeya Kallam. While the two leaders claimed credit for pulling strings at the Union Ministry level to get the compensation proposal cleared for the master list candidates of VPT, Mr. Vasan's acknowledgement of only Ms. Purandeswari's role irked Mr. Reddy's followers.

Sensing trouble, Visakha South MLA Dronamraju Srinivas went up to the podium and announced that the two leaders were important for the city and that this was not a platform for their followers to display their loyalties. One of the master list candidates showered praise on Ms. Purandeswari describing her as a goddess who intervened on their behalf to settle the long-pending issue. He said she alone deserved re-nomination as MP and none else.

Groupism in the Congress came to the fore when two groups in the party - one represented by Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development D. Purandeswari and the other by Chairman of Parliamentary Committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forests T. Subbarami Reddy - indulged in a game of one-upmanship at a function organised by the Visakhapatnam Port Trust where Union Minister for Shipping G.K. Vasan distributed cheques to master list candidates on Friday.

The followers of Mr. Subbarami Reddy and Ms. Purandeswari, who occupied seats in the port's Kalavani auditorium as two different blocks, indulged in slogan-shouting in praise of their respective leaders. Followers of Mr. Reddy were seen indulging in slogan-shouting while Ms. Purandeswari spoke and the vice versa happened when Mr. Reddy addressed the gathering.

At a separate press conference organised at his residence later, Mr. Subbarami Reddy said the high command knew who really worked for the people and that “gimmicks and slogan-shouting” cannot influence anyone.

He said he would definitely contest as MP again. His roots in the city were strong and the high command was aware of it, he added.

Endowment properties to be put online

                                                                

Even though the government has already initiated enquiry into the alleged encroachments of temple lands all across the State, it is ready to accept any reliable information from the public                                                              

Endowments Minister C. Ramachandraiah on Friday said efforts were on to make available all the details relating to the properties of various temples over the Internet. The information would not only include the details of the extent of lands under the control of each temple but would consist of minutiae of all the litigations whatsoever.

CM Kiran:Jagan backing YSR's arch political foe

                                                                  

Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy called upon people of Kovur constituency not to vote for the YSR Congress Party, as Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy had tied up with his father YSR's arch political foe, Chandrababu Naidu, with an ulterior motive to defeat the Congress in the by-election.

Enumerating the list of welfare and development programmes of his government, Mr. Kiran Kumar Reddy asserted that his government was extending the Re. 1 per kg rice scheme, interest-free loans to women's groups, bank loans to 95 lakh farmers in the State, 8 lakh additional pensions to poor people and 2.25 crore ration cards. Despite this good work, Mr. Jaganmohan Reddy left the party and “conspired to dethrone the government” for which he owed an explanation to the people, the Chief Minister said.

Mr. Kiran Kumar Reddy made a dig at the YSR Congress nominee, saying that it would be difficult to know whether Mr. Prasanna Kumar Reddy would continue in the same party before the election ends. “Kovur people elected Prasanna Kumar in 2009, though YSR campaigned for Srinivasulu Reddy who was the Congress candidate then. But Prasanna changed his loyalty and followed YSR. Now again he left the Congress and joined Jagan's party. It is difficult to say in which party Mr. Prasanna Kumar will be at a given point of time,” the Chief Minister said.

Terming the Kovur by-poll a historic one in recent times, Mr. Kiran Kumar Reddy appealed to the voters to elect the Congress nominee, Polamreddy Srinivasulu Reddy, to bring back development to the constituency which was badly neglected in the past three years.

Addressing a well-attended election meeting here, about 20 km north of Nellore, on Friday, Mr. Kiran Kumar Reddy mainly targeted his criticism at the YSR Congress president and his party nominee, Nallapureddy Prasanna Kumar Reddy. He asked as to why Mr. Jaganmohan Reddy, whose family owed a lot to the Congress, joined hands with Mr. Chandrababu Naidu with the aim to throw out the Congress Government through the no-confidence motion in the Assembly.

Union Minister of State for Textiles Panabaka Lakshmi, Finance Minister Anam Ramanarayana Reddy, MPs Chinta Mohan, Lagadapati Rajagopal and Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy, MLC Vakati Narayana Reddy spoke.

Parkash Singh Badal invites Mamata Banerjee to his swearing-in

                                                                                                      
At a time when non-Congress chief ministers have come together on some issues, north Indian state Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has invited his eastern state West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee to his swearing in ceremony on March 14.
"Badal telephoned Banerjee today and invited her to attend his swearing-in as chief minister at Chandigarh," state secretariat sources here said.
Mamata and other non-Congress chief ministers had come together in opposing the Centre's move to set up the National Counter Terrorism Centre alleging it would affect the federal structure of the country.
The Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP coalition retained power in Punjab in the recent assembly election in the state.

Bypoll cash flow keeps cops on their toes

                                                              
HYDERABAD: As the various political parties in the state pray for it to rain votes with the byelections round the corner, the poll-bound areas increasingly find themselves awash with cash, gold and silver.



On Friday, two-and-a-half kilos of gold worth Rs 65 lakh was recovered from a bus at the Nellore-Kadapa check post and two persons were taken into police custody. The duo had no documents or papers for the cargo they were ferrying and, sources said, cops were verifying whether the consignment was meant for distribution among voters in Kovur. Voters in seven Assembly constituencies - six of them in the Telangana region-will exercise their franchise on March 18.
In Mahbubnagar district alone, police have seized Rs 2.5 crore through searches at the various check posts which have been put up with an eye on preventing exactly this sort of thing but, despite claims of tight security and continuous police vigil, the flow of cash and gold continues unabated.

Acting on a tip-off, Mahbubnagar police carried out raids at Devarakadra and recovered Rs 10 lakh. "The money was meant for the district headquarters. The person driving the vehicle had no clear explanation as to why he was carrying the cash," a police official said.

Sources said the amount was for distribution among voters in Mahbubnagar where TRS and TDP are going all out for a win. In another raid, Rs 17.29 lakh in cash was seized from two cars at Devarakadra. Cops apprehended two persons and found Rs 10 lakh on them at Nizamabad district's Kammarapalli. A couple of days back 30 kilos silver worth Rs 17.5 lakh was seized at Gannaram check post in Dichpalli. Police said the silver and cash were meant for 'use' in Kamareddy.

Kovur: true test for Jagan

                                                      

As Kovur is the only seat going to by-poll in Andhra region compared to six seats in Telangana, top leaders of all parties have intensified their efforts. YSRCP has pinned its hopes on the late YSR's image and support from the numerically strong communities of Reddys and Malas besides Muslims. On the other hand, the TDP wants to benefit from a split in these communities besides getting considerable support from Yanadis, Madigas, Pallekarulu, Kammas, Yadavas, Gouds, and other backward communities.

 

As the first election being fought by YSR Congress Party of Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy outside of his home turf Kadapa Lok Sabha constituency, the Kovur Assembly by-poll has assumed significance with people closely waiting to see the support built by the fledgling party.

Till a few days ago, the mood looked overwhelmingly in favour of YSR Congress when party leaders talked about a Kadapa-like performance with party nominee for Kovur ‘all set' to get a majority of 60,000. As electioneering progressed, it has become clear that it is going to be a tough fight.

Taking it as a prestigious election, Mr. Jaganmohan Reddy is touring extensively in all five mandals of Kovur segment seeking support for party nominee N. Prasanna Kumar Reddy. TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu also held a hectic campaign for his party candidate S. Chandramohan Reddy.

The Congress campaign has remained low-key from the beginning with party nominee Polamreddy Srinivasulu Reddy mostly relying on support from groups led by Finance Minister Anam Ramnarayan Reddy, Magunta Parvathamma, Union Minister Panabaka Lakshmi and others. In 2009, Mr. Prasanna Kumar contested on a TDP ticket and defeated present Congress nominee Mr. Srinivasulu Reddy by a margin of 7,444 votes. He has now distanced himself from the TDP and moved over to Jagan's camp.

The campaign has turned vituperative as rival leaders, setting aside main issues, have begun hurling personal allegations against each other. TDP mounted a massive campaign against Mr. Prasanna Kumar in order to create a situation where his candidature is seen as a liability for the YSRCP. Though Mr. Chandramohan Reddy is Prasanna Kumar's maternal uncle, he is not mincing words in criticising his nephew.

The problems of sugarcane farmers under the Kovur Cooperative Sugar Factory, closure of Kovur Thermal Station and acquisition of 2,750 acres for Kisan SEZ are some of issues brought into focus by political parties during their campaign.