ap cm ysr

YS Vijayamma Grand tribute to YSR's Mother Jayamma

2012-01-25T21:59:00.001+05:30

YS Vijayamma Grand tribute to YSR's Mother Jayamma

Adi Srinivas fire on Ponnam

2012-01-16T23:27:00.001+05:30

Adi Srinivas fire on Ponnam

YS Jagan Pongal wishes

2012-01-15T15:04:00.000+05:30

YS Jagan Pongal wishes

'Deeksha' in support OF YS Jagan's Movement

2012-01-12T23:53:00.000+05:30

'Deeksha' in support OF YS Jagan's Movement

Jagan Says to Formers No suicides

2012-01-12T23:38:00.000+05:30

Jagan Says to Formers No suicides

TDP candidates lost their deposits in by elections: Gone

2012-01-12T16:40:00.001+05:30

TDP candidates lost their deposits in by elections: Gone

YS Swarna Yugam is possible with Only YS Jagan

2012-01-12T16:28:00.000+05:30

YS Swarna Yugam is possible with Only YS Jagan

Supporters visit Jagan in large numbers

2012-01-11T23:51:00.000+05:30

Supporters visit Jagan in large numbers

Kadapa MP Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy's fast over farmer issues at Armoor in Nizamabad district in Telangana went off smoothly on the second day on Wednesday with supporters visiting him in good numbers.

Raising slogans, Telangana supporters tried to express their protest at the fast venue but they were removed by police.

Alleging that Jagan, who hails from Rayalaseema region of Andhra Pradesh, has an anti-Telangana attitude, TRS and the Telangana political Joint Action Committee (JAC) had called for protests against the Kadapa MP's 48-hour fast.

source: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/supporters-visit-jagan-in-large-numbers/219979-37-64.html

Asserting that it respected the sentiments of people of Telangana, Jagan's YSR Congress Party maintained it was for the Centre to take a decision on the statehood issue.

The Telangana supporters squatted on the roads, threw stones, eggs and other objects on Jagan's convoy while he was on his way to Armoor from Hyderabad on Tuesday.

However, the protests were not strong enough to deter him from starting his fast. Jagan had a smooth passage and he could only reach Armoor in the night as he met his supporters and farmers en-route.

A large number of supporters, including women, met Jagan at the fast venue on Wednesday and interacted with him.

The YSR Congress leader demanded that the government set up a price stabilisation fund for providing minimum support price for farmers and also ensure nine hours of free hour supply to them as promised by his father late Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy.

He also sought immediate relief for drought-hit farmers in the state.

Smooth passage into Armoor for Jagan

2012-01-11T21:50:00.001+05:30

Smooth passage into Armoor for Jagan

YSR Congress Party president Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy rode into Armoor town on Tuesday night with ease as the threat by the Telangana protagonists to obstruct his maiden yatra to Nizamabad district proved a damp squib.

His passage to this fertile region of Telangana was so trouble-free that the Kadapa MP deviated from his original route on the national highway. He also stopped at numerous places to greet party workers and, as a result, reached Armoor, 25 km from Nizamabad, 10 hours behind schedule to launch his two-day fast in support of the farmer's issue. His visit was quite in contrast to the recent tour of TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu to Warangal district when Telugu Desam and TRS cadres confronted each other at several places.

Addressing a large gathering on the first day of his fast, Mr. Jagan flayed the Congress government for being totally oblivious to the problems of farmers and doing precious little to solve them like lack of financial support and fall in the prices of their produce. Some students raised slogans when Mr. Jagan and actor Roja were addressing the crowd.

Unprecedented security cover provided by the police to the YSR Congress president's convoy and the preventive arrests of TRS leaders largely contributed to the peaceful tour. TRS MLA T. Harish Rao was picked up by police which deterred his party cadre from coming onto the streets. But there were no protests even in the Telangana party's strongholds like Ramayampet, Medak and Kamareddy.

There were stray incidents of stone pelting, hurling of tomatoes and eggs at a few places. Some students of ITI at Medchal indulged in flash attack by hurling footwear and stones at the convoy. In Mandapur village in Chinna Shankarampet mandal in Medak district, some unidentified persons threw burning tyres on Chegunta-Medak road, when Mr. Jagan's convoy took a detour to visit the historic CSI Medak Church.

He received a rousing welcome on entering Nizamabad district at Baswapur, the native village of Gampa Goverdhan, former MLA, and in Dharmaram B village, native place of TDP legislator Mandava Venkateswara Rao.

The YSRCP leader had to halt as party workers forced him to get out of the vehicle and greet them. At some places, Congress workers joined the party in the presence of Mr. Jagan. Notable among them were former MP Gaddam Ganga Reddy and former Minister S. Santosh Reddy.

Will RIL-TV18-ETV deal win SEBI, CCI approval?

2012-01-10T21:02:00.001+05:30

Will RIL-TV18-ETV deal win SEBI, CCI approval?

PRITAM SENGUPTA in New Delhi and KEERTHI PRATIPATI in Hyderabad write: Media criticism in India, especially in the so-called mainstream media, has never been much to write home about.

Operating on the principle that writing on another media house or media professional means exposing yourself to the same danger in the future, proprietors, promoters and editors—most of whom have plenty to hide—are wary of taking on their colleagues, competitors and compatriots.

That risk-averse attitude amounting to a mutually agreed ceasefire pretty much explains why the biggest media deal of the decade—Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) funding Network 18/ TV 18 group to pick up ETV—has been reported with about as much excitement as a weather report.

That the newspaper which issues P. Sainath‘s monthly cheque, The Hindu, declined to publish media critic Sevanti Ninan‘s fortnightly column on market rumours about the impending deal (without telling readers why) provides a chilling preview of what lies in store as the shadow of corporates lengthens over the media.

In 2008, New York Times‘ columnist Anand Giridharadas wrote of why the Indian media does not take on the Ambanis of Reliance Industries in an article titled “Indian to the core, and an oligarch“.

“A prominent Indian editor, formerly of The Times of India, who requested anonymity because of concerns about upsetting Mr Ambani, says Reliance maintains good relationships with newspaper owners; editors, in turn, fear investigating it too closely.

“I don’t think anyone else comes close to it,” the editor said of Reliance’s sway. “I don’t think anyone is able to work the system as they can.”

***

First things first, the RIL-Network18/TV18-ETV wedding is an unlikely menage-a-trois.

Reliance Industries Limited is a behemoth built by Dhirubhai Ambani and his sons Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani using a maze of companies and subsidiaries built on a heady cocktail of mergers and demergers, using shares, debentures, bonuses and other tricks in the accounting book—and many beyond it.

The only known interest of the Ambanis in the media before this deal was when they bought a Bombay business weekly called Commerce and turned into the daily Business & Political Observer (BPO) to match the weekly offering, The Sunday Observer, which they had acquired from Jaico Publishing.

(Top business commentators like John Elliott and Sucheta Dalal have alluded to a blog item to convey that Mukesh Ambani’s media interest goes beyond the recent announcement.)

Anyway, BPO, launched under the editorship of Prem Shankar Jha, was long in coming unlike typical Reliance projects. Suffice it to say that in 1991, when India was at the cusp of pathbreaking reforms, some of India’s biggest names in business journalism were producing dummy editions of BPO.

The Ambani publications were under the gaze of the more media-savvy younger brother, Anil Ambani, who operated with R.K. Mishra, the late editor of The Patriot, as chairman of the editorial board. The Observer group shuttered before the beginning of the new millennium.

As Mani Ratnam‘s film Guru based on Sydney Morning Herald foreign editor Hamish McDonald‘s book The Polyester Prince makes clear, the Ambanis have always cultivated friends across the political divide, but they have been identified with the Congress more than the BJP.

Raghav Bahl‘s Network18/TV18 is in some senses an ideal fit for RIL.

Till its latest cleanup came about a year and a half ago, it was difficult to understand which of its myriad companies and subsidiaries came under which arm. It too has friends on either side, but suffice it to say, CNN-IBN‘s decision not to run the cash-for-votes sting operation in July 2008 revealed where its political predilections lay.

Eenadu and ETV, on the other hand, is a long, different story.

***

The ETV network of channels was launched by Ramoji Rao, the founder of the Telugu daily Eenadu. Rao has many claims to fame (including launching Priya pickles), but he is chiefly known as the media baron behind the transformation of the Telugu film star N.T. Rama Rao into a weighty non-Congress politician.

Rao and his men are known to have crafted speeches that tapped into dormant Telugu pride for the politically naive NTR. The massive media buildup in Eenadu—Ramoji Rao pioneered multi-edition newspapers with localised supplements—saw NTR become the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh just nine months after launching the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in 1982.

Two years later, when NTR was removed from office by a pliant governor (Ram Lal) working at the behest of Indira Gandhi‘s rampaging government, Ramoji Rao played a key role in protecting the numbers of TDP MLAs by having them packed off to Bangalore and Mysore, and building public opinion through his newspapers.

When NTR’s son-in-law N. Chandrababu Naidu walked out of TDP to “save” TDP, Ramoji Rao backed Naidu and played a hand in his ascension as CM. Thus, Ramoji Rao galvanised non-Congress forces in the South leading to the creation of the National Front, which installed V.P. Singh as PM in 1989 after the Bofors scandal claimed Rajiv Gandhi.

In 2006, Ramoji Rao placed his political leaning on record:

“I submit that until 1983 the Congress was running the State in an unchallenged and unilateral manner for the past 30 years. The Congress party became a threat to democracy and in view of the single party and individual rule by Indira Congress, the opposition in the state was in emaciated condition. It has been reduced to the status of a nominal entity. The dictatorial rule of the Congress proceeding without any hindrance. I submit that as the opposition parties were weak and were in helpless situation where they were unable to do any thing in spite of the misrule by the ruling party, Eenadu played the role of opposition. I submit that in the elections of the State Assembly held in 1983, the Congress for the first time did not secure a majority in the elections and lost the power to the newly formed Telugu Desam Party. I submit that on the day of poling i.e. January 5, 1983, I issued a signed editorial on the front page of Eenadu supporting the manifesto of Telugu Desam Party and calling on the electorate to vote for Telugu Desam Party giving cogent reasons for the stance taken by me.”

In short, the marriage between RIL-Network18/TV18 and Ramoji Rao is one between a largely pro-Congress duo and a distinctly non-Congress one.

***

Indeed, Ramoji Rao’s troubles that has resulted in substantial sections of his ETV network getting out of his grasp and into RIL’s, are largely because of his consistently anti-Congress stance, which gained an added edge in 2005 when the Congress under Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy (YSR) trumped the TDP under Chandrababu Naidu in the assembly elections.

Reported The Telegraph:

A slew of news reports in Eenadu and programmes on ETV since 2005 have accused Congress ministers, politicians and senior government officials of corruption and hanky panky. One report, for instance, debunked the official claim that the number of suicides by farmers had dropped. Another attacked construction by Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy, the chief minister’s brother, on disputed land. A third said that Eenadu had discovered, based on a survey, that voter lists for elections for local bodies had omitted the names of opposition party sympathisers.

It didn’t take long for YSR to hit back.

It was a two-pronged attack: his son Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy launched a project to own launch his own newspaper and newschannel house to take on the might of Eenadu and ETV. Simultaneously, a Congress MP from Rajahmundry attacked Ramoji Rao where it hurt most: his finances.

Arun Kumar Vundavalli, the MP, revealed that Rao’s Margadarsi Financiers had started dilly-dallying about repaying depositors, even after their deposit period had expired. Kumar showed that Margadarsi Financiers—a Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) company, of which the karta was Ramoji Rao—had collected deposits from the public, although a 1997 RBI law forbade HUFs from doing so.

Margadarsi Financiers owned a 95% stake in Ushodaya Enterprises, Ramoji Rao’s company which owned Eenadu and ETV.

A one-man committee of enquiry constituted by the Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy government revealed that Rs 2,600 crore of money was collected from the public in violation of RBI norms. Although his companies were not in great shape, Ramoji Rao assured the Andhra Pradesh high court that he would repay the full amount of Rs 2,600 crore due to the depositors.

Enter Blackstone.

In January 2007, the world’s largest private equity player indicated that it wanted to pick up 26% in Ushodaya Enterprises group for Rs 1,217 crore. At the time, it was reported to be India’s single largest foreign direct investment (FDI) in the print media.

The Blackstone offer placed the value of Ramoji Rao’s company at Rs 4,470 crore.

But the FDI proposal got stuck in the I&B ministry for months, allegedly at the behest of Vundavalli, who raised a variety of concerns over the Blackstone-Eenadu deal. In January 2008, when the clearance for the Blackstone investment was still not coming, Mint asked:

“Does the promoter of an Indian company, who is selling a stake in his family’s media firm to a foreign investor, have the right to do what he wants with that money, in this particular case, pay off liabilities of another company that his family separately also owns?….”

“FIPB records then show that the finance ministry, specifically citing Vundavalli’s claims, ‘has observed that prima facie, it appears that the purpose of securing funds from M/s Blackstone is not for advancing the business of Ushodaya Enterprises Ltd, but for repaying the deposits taken by M/s Margadarsi Financiers.”

When the Blackstone deal did not materialise, Nimesh Kampani of JM Financial stepped in as Ramoji Rao’s white knight although, as Sucheta Dalal writes, Kampani was never known to have any interest in the media except in deal-making.

According to VC Circle, Kampani picked up 21% of Ushodaya Enterprises for Rs 1,424 crore, which valued the company at Rs 6,780 crore, or over 50 per cent more than what Blackstone was willing to accept.

“The first public report of Kampani’s investment came in early February 2008, or around 10 days after stock markets crashed globally.”

Now, YSR got after Kampani.

Andhra Pradesh police issued a “look-out” notice for Kampani. Nagarjuna Finance, of which Kampani had been director, had allegedly defrauded depositors. Although Kampani had resigned from the independent directorship of the company nine years earlier, it was a sufficient handle to beat him with.

For months, Kampani had to stay out of India, fearing arrest. It was only after his bete noire YSR met with a bloody death in a helicopter crash in September 2009 that Kampani could return home. In May 2010, rumours surfaced of Mukesh Ambani buying up JM Financial but they soon fizzled out.

Shortly before buying into ETV, Kampani had recently sold his stake in a joint venture with Morgan Stanley to his foreign partner for $440 million and had the cash. The Margadarsi bailout, it was assumed, was in his personal capacity. It took a petition in 2011 filed by YSR’s widow seeking an inquiry into Chandrababu Naidu’s assets assets for the penny to drop.

Enter RIL.

YSR’s widow, Y.S. Vijayalakshmi, an MLA, alleged that when gas reserves were found in the Krishna Godavari basin in Andhra Pradesh in 2002, the Chandrababu Naidu government wilfully surrendered its right over the discovery in favour of Reliance, “while allowing Naidu’s close associate Ramoji Rao to be the vehicle of the quid pro quo.” (page 32)

“In consideration for the favour done by the Respondent No. 8 (Chandrababu Naidu) in allowing the State’s KG basin claim to be brushed under the carpet, the Reliance group facilitated the payout of Ramoji Rao’s debts to his depositors. This was carried out through known associates and friends of Mukesh Ambani.

“Two of these known associates of Ambani and the Reliance Group are Nimesh Kampani (of JM Financial) and Vinay Chajlani (of Nai Duniya).

“Kampani extended himself in ensuring that Ramoji Rao would be bailed out. Within a short span of 37 days between December 2007 and January 2008, six “shell companies” were floated on three addresses, which are shown as Sriram Mills Compound, Worli, which is the official address of Reliance Industries Limited. Reliance diverted Rs 2,604 crores of its shareholders money through the shell companies to M/s Kampani’s Equator Trading India Limited and Chajlani’s Anu Trading.”

In other words, RIL’s involvement in Eenadu through Kampani became known only recently in response to Vijayalakshmi’s petition, but it was market gossip for quite a while.

T.N. Ninan, the chairman of Business Standard and the president of the editors’ guild of India, wrote in a column in January 2011:

“If reports in Jagan Reddy’s Saakshi newspaper are to be believed, Mukesh Ambani is a behind-the-scenes investor in Eenadu, the leading Telugu daily.”

Vijayalakshmi’s 2011 petition makes several serious allegations.

That Ramoji Rao entered into the deal with Kampani’s Equator just 23 days after it was registered although it had no known expertise or business; that Ushodaya sold Rs 100 shares to Equator at a premium of Rs 5,28,630 per share; and that Ushodaya’s valuation had been pumped up by Rs 1,200 crore by its claims over a movie library.

Vijayalakshmi’s petition concluded:

“The interest shown by Reliance group in coming to the rescue of Ushodaya Enterprises headed by Ramoji Rao is clearly in defiance of any prudent profit-based corporate entity (since) Reliance does not gain any returns by virtue of that investment.”

***

It is this RIL baby that is now in Network18/TV18′s lap.

The timing of the RIL-Network18/TV18-ETV deal also hides a small story.

It comes when the probe into the assets of Naidu and his associates (including Ramoji Rao) has moved from the High Court to the Supreme Court. It comes when a parallel probe into Vijayalakshmi’s son Jagan Mohan Reddy’s assets has entered a new and critical phase. It comes when the KG basin gas controversy is heating up. And, above all, it comes when 2014 is looming into the calendar.

Several questions emerge from this deal which has politics, business and media in varying measures:

1) What does it mean for Indian democracy when India’s richest businessman becomes India’s biggest media baron with control over at least two dozen English and regional news and business channels?

2) What kind of control will Mukesh Ambani have over Raghav Bahl’s Network18/TV18 when and if RIL’s optionally convertible debentures (OCDs) are turned into equity?

3) What kind of due diligence did the financially troubled Network18/TV18 do on the Kampani-Ambani investment in ETV before agreeing to pick up RIL’s stake for Rs 2,100 crore?

4) How will CNBC-TV18, which incidentally broke the news of the split among the Ambani brothers in 2005, report news of India’s biggest company (or its political and other benefactors) now that it is indirectly going to be owned by it?

5) Is there a case for alarm when one man has a direct and indirect stamp over three of the five major English news channels (CNN-IBN, NewsX and NDTV 24×7), three business channels (CNBC-TV18, IBN Awaaz, NDTV Profit), and at least five Hindi news channels?

6) Do Raghav Bahl and team who ran a handful of channels heavily into debt, have the expertise to run two dozen or more channels, especially in the language space where there are bigger players like Star and Zee?

7) Is the ETV network really worth so much, especially when Ushodaya’s most profitable parts, Eenadu and Priya Foods, are out of it? Or is RIL using Network18/TV18′s plight to turn a bad asset into a good one?

8) Is RIL really tying with Network18/TV18 with 4G in mind, or is this just spin to push an audacious deal past market regulators such as SEBI and the Competition Commission of India (CCI)?

9) How immune are Mukesh Ambani and Raghav Bahl from political forces hoping to use the combined clout of RIL-Network18/TV18 to blunt negative coverage ahead of the 2014 general elections?

10) And have Network18/TV18 investors got a fair deal?

source:http://wearethebest.wordpress.com/2012/01/09/will-ril-tv18-etv-deal-win-sebi-cci-approval/

Warangal Formers Supports Ys Jagan Rythu Deeksha

2012-01-09T13:38:00.001+05:30

Warangal Formers Supports Ys Jagan Rythu Deeksha

Warangal Formers Supports Ys Jagan Rythu Deeksha

links to this post:

Jagan’s 48 hour fast from January 10 in Telangana

YS Jagan rythu Deeksha posters released in Khammam

Cold War Between PCC Chief Botsa & CM Kiran

2012-01-08T10:43:00.000+05:30

Cold War Between PCC Chief Botsa & CM Kiran

TRS may not obstruct Jagan’s ‘T’our

2012-01-08T10:28:00.000+05:30

TRS may not obstruct Jagan’s ‘T’our

Telangana activists on Saturday indicated that YSR Congress president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy might not face stiff resistance from T-zealots when he comes down to Armoor in Nizamabad district on January 10 to undertake a three-day 48-hour staggered fast to champion farmers' issues.

A day after Telangana activists violently opposed the visit of TDP president Chandrababu Naidu to Warangal district, when asked if Jagan would be given the same treatment, Telangana Political JAC chairman M Kodandaram told STOI: "We are against the visit of any politician to the region without him spelling his party's stance on Telangana. When you want to conduct a political programme among our people, then they have a right to demand the leader's stand on the Telangana issue."

However, according to Kodandaram, there is a difference between Warangal, where Naidu faced fierce protests on Friday, and Armoor, where Jagan is scheduled to go. "Our strength varies from district to district," he said. The strength of Telangana Political JAC cadres in Armoor is minimal compared to Warangal. "Therefore, even if the T-JAC and TRS oppose Jagan's visit, the YSR Congress is not likely to face the kind of resistance that Naidu faced," averred analysts.

Meanwhile,. I Gopala Sharma, T-JAC Nizamabad district convenor, told STOI that a call had been given to the cadre to oppose Jagan's visit to Armoor. On its part, the TRS is maintaining that it is the T-JAC that gives the call to boycott or oppose the visit of a Seemandhra leader and that they would respond accordingly to Jagan's visit. "It is the T-JAC that gives the protest call. As a member of the T-JAC, the TRS will certainly participate in the resistance rally against Jagan," party MLA Harish Rao told STOI.

However, despite the threat, the YSR Congress leaders in the Telangana region are confident that Jagan's visit will not see much opposition. Expressing confidence to this effect, former MLA and YSR Congress leader from Armoor Bajireddy Goverdhan said Jagan was not opposed to Telangana. "Jagan is not coming to Armoor with any political agenda. He wants to express solidarity with the farmers of the state who are in a severe crisis. We are demanding an immediate relief for the farmers, especially turmeric and cotton growers," Bajireddy said. According to Bajireddy, Jagan chose Armoor as the venue of his `deeksha' because his father Y S Rajasekhara Reddy launched his struggle for farmers' welfare from this town in the year 2000. "Jagan's `deeksha' in Armoor will change the dynamics of the state politics," the YSR Congress leader said.

source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/TRS-may-not-obstruct-Jagans-Tour/articleshow/11406202.cms

yellow anakonda

2012-01-07T17:32:00.001+05:30

yellow anakonda

Attacks On YS Jagan Just Till 2013 Jan

2012-01-07T17:22:00.000+05:30

Attacks On YS Jagan Just Till 2013 Jan

During the regime of Y S Rajasekhar Reddy, the uncrowned emperor of Andhra Pradesh was Y S Jagan. However, his power castle came down crashing after the sudden demise of his father. Since then, Jagan has been going through the rough path to prove his mettle and carve an identity of his own in politics.

This has led to severe opposition from Congress regime and currently, Jagan is getting choked from all corners. However, the political analysts say this is a temporary phase.

They state “All these attacks on Jagan will be just till January 2013 ie exactly for one year from now.”

They add “The reason for that is the election heat will begin in 2013 itself so if any sort of fingering takes place between political parties or leaders, they will lose their vote bank. So, whatever has to be done it should be done only in one year. Once that is done Jagan will get back his reins of power. Just like Lord Srikrishna gave an exemption of 100 faults and then got into action, same is the case with Jagan. He is just tolerating all the attacks and after that he will show his Viswaroopam.”Attacks On YS Jagan Just Till 2013 Jan

During the regime of Y S Rajasekhar Reddy, the uncrowned emperor of Andhra Pradesh was Y S Jagan. However, his power castle came down crashing after the sudden demise of his father. Since then, Jagan has been going through the rough path to prove his mettle and carve an identity of his own in politics.

This has led to severe opposition from Congress regime and currently, Jagan is getting choked from all corners. However, the political analysts say this is a temporary phase.

They state “All these attacks on Jagan will be just till January 2013 ie exactly for one year from now.”

They add “The reason for that is the election heat will begin in 2013 itself so if any sort of fingering takes place between political parties or leaders, they will lose their vote bank. So, whatever has to be done it should be done only in one year. Once that is done Jagan will get back his reins of power. Just like Lord Srikrishna gave an exemption of 100 faults and then got into action, same is the case with Jagan. He is just tolerating all the attacks and after that he will show his Viswaroopam.”

source: http://www.greatandhra.com/viewnews.php?id=34783&cat=15&scat=16

Bhumana Karunakar Reddy comments on Congress Government

2012-01-07T13:55:00.000+05:30

Bhumana Karunakar Reddy comments on Congress Government

Attack Jagan, Azad tells party

2012-01-07T13:43:00.000+05:30

Attack Jagan, Azad tells party

Hinting that attack is the best form of defence, Congress general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad has instructed the state party leadership not to spare Kadapa MP Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and other opposition leaders. Mr Azad, while interacting with the state-level Congress Coordination Committee members in Gandhi Bhavan late on Thursday evening found fault with the ministers and party seniors for failing to counter the criticism leveled by Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy and other opposition leaders against the Congress party and the government.

Mr Azad then told the Coordination panel that from the complaints he heard against ministers and senior party leaders, they are not bothered to counter political adversaries, including the criticism leveled by Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy effectively. He then directed the state leadership to be more offe-nsive on all such matters. Mr Azad also reminded the panel that the Congress in the state is waging a lone battle and is facing several odds. He told the panel members that the party earlier had TRS, CPI and CPM on its side and faced only the Telugu Desam.

“Now the situation is totally changed. We (Cong-ress) are alone and are facing a threat from the Opposition and Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy, so we have to be more careful,” Mr Azad is reported to have said. Sources said that Deputy Chief Minister C. Damo-dar Raja Narasimha sought to know why the Rs 2-a-kilo rice scheme was replaced with `1-a-kilo rice scheme and at whose behest. “When nobody wanted it, why should the CM get it changed,” he is said to have asked.

Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy explained that he got permission from Congress president Sonia Gandhi to suitably amend the schemes launched by late Rajasekhara Reddy in order to win support for the party. Mr Raja Narasimha shot back and asked “in that case will you change 104, 108, Arogyasri, free power to agriculture and other schemes too? Why should we do that, we can as well tell the people all these schemes were launched by the Congress government, what is the problem.”

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/cities/hyderabad/attack-jagan-azad-tells-party-572

No Raithu Yatra.. Rowdies yatra.. Nagam Janardhan Reddy

2012-01-07T00:33:00.000+05:30

No Raithu Yatra.. Rowdies yatra.. Nagam Janardhan Reddy

Congress is using CBI to target Opponents

2012-01-07T00:22:00.000+05:30

Congress is using CBI to target Opponents

YS Jagan rythu Deeksha posters released in Khammam

2012-01-07T00:06:00.001+05:30

YS Jagan rythu Deeksha posters released in Khammam

Chandra Dandu attack with Sticks on Telangana activities

2012-01-06T15:48:00.000+05:30

Chandra Dandu attack with Sticks on Telangana activities

Jagan Mohan Reddy seeks High Court reprieve as CBI digs into assets

2012-01-06T14:38:00.001+05:30

Jagan Mohan Reddy seeks High Court reprieve as CBI digs into assets

YSR Congress party president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy moved the Andhra Pradesh high court on Thursday with the CBI digging deep into his business transactions before his father late Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy came into power in 2004.

The high court admitted the petition filed by V. Vijay Sai Reddy, Jagan's close aide and vice-chairman of the media house Jagathi Publications, seeking a direction to the CBI to restrain from investigating into the transactions made before May 2004.

Sai Reddy's counsel Sushil Kumar brought to the notice of the High Court that the earlier division bench, acting on a petition filed by state minister P. Shankar Rao, had directed the CBI to confine its scope of investigation to the period from May 2004 to September 2009 and not prior to the same.

Justice Raja Ilango, who took up the petition, observed that it was not possible to restrict the CBI investigation to a particular period or fix its jurisdiction. He, however, issued notices to the CBI to file a counter to Sai Reddy's petition and posted the case to January 19.

The CBI counsel contented that the roots of the scam reaches out to 2004 and hence, it needed to investigate into the past dealings of Jagan's group companies as well.

source: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/jagan-seeks-high-court-reprieve-as-cbi-digs-into-assets/1/167435.html

పల్లెల నుంచి మద్యాన్ని తరిమికొడతాం: జగన్ / YS Jagan address Public Meeting at Komerampudi, Guntur

2012-01-05T23:05:00.000+05:30

పల్లెల నుంచి మద్యాన్ని తరిమికొడతాం: జగన్ / YS Jagan address Public Meeting at Komerampudi, Guntur

మనసులేని పాలకవర్గం చేతిలో రాష్ట్రం ఉందని వైఎస్సార్ కాంగ్రెస్ పార్టీ అధ్యక్షుడు, కడప ఎంపీ వైఎస్ జగన్ విమర్శించారు. గుంటూరు జిల్లా ఓదార్పుయాత్రలో భాగంగా గురువారం రాత్రి ఆయన సత్తెనపల్లి మండలం కొమెరపూడి చేరుకున్నారు. ఇక్కడ ఏర్పాటు చేసిన దివంగత మహానేత వైఎస్సార్ విగ్రహాన్ని ఆవిష్కరించిన తర్వాత జగన్ అశేష జనవాహినిని ఉద్దేశించి ప్రసంగించారు.

కల్తీసారా బాధితులను చూస్తే బాధేస్తోందని అన్నారు. లిక్కర్ అమ్మకాలు నెలనెలా 15 శాతం పెంచుకోవడానికి ప్రభుత్వం తాపత్రయపడుతోందని దుయ్యబట్టారు. సరసమైన ధరలకు మద్యాన్ని అందించాలనేది ప్రతిపక్ష నేత చంద్రబాబు కోరికని ఎద్దేవా చేశారు. గ్రామాల నుంచి బ్రాందీ, సారాలను తరిమి కొడతామన్నారు. గ్రామాలు బాగుపడాలంటే అందరూ ఉన్నత చదువులు చదవాలన్నారు.

రాష్ట్ర ప్రభుత్వం రైతులను గాలికి వదిలేసిందని విమర్శించారు. కాంగ్రెస్ నైతిక విలువలకు తిలోదకాలిచ్చిందన్నారు. అధికారాన్ని అందించిన వైఎస్సార్‌ను కాంగ్రెస్ అప్రదిష్టపాలు చేస్తోందన్నారు. త్వరలో సువర్ణయుగం రాబోతోందని అన్నారు. ప్రజలు చూపుతున్న ఆప్యాయతను మరువలేని, ఎన్ని జన్మలెత్తినా వారి రుణం తీర్చుకోలేనని జగన్ అన్నారు.

Thota Gopala Krishna passes away

2012-01-05T19:01:00.001+05:30

Thota Gopala Krishna passes away

Thota Gopala Krishna no more

Former MP and YSR Congress leader Thota Gopala Krishna, 64, died here on Thursday. He was elected twice to the Lok Sabha as TDP candidate and once to the Assembly from Peddapuram in 2004 on Congress ticket.

Gopala Krishna has recently undergone a by-pass surgery and his health has deteriorated after that. He was admitted to a corporate hospital, where doctors told his relatives that he was brought in a very critical condition. He died on the afternoon of Thursday.

Gopala Krishna was survived by a son and a daughter. YSR Congress president Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy has expressed his condolences to the bereaved family.

Mother to finish Jagan yatra

2012-01-05T18:08:00.001+05:30

Mother to finish Jagan yatra

Kadapa MP Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s arrest appears to be imminent with highly placed sources telling this newspaper that it will be “done” by the end of this month. Incidentally, Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy will be returning from a four-day sojourn of Bengaluru on Tuesday morning and will stop over in Mylavaram in Krishna district to console the families of the recent hooch tragedy victims. He will also participate in a dharna against the government’s failure to reimburse the fees to eligible students on January 4 at Ongole. He will later proceed on his Vodarpu Yatra in Guntur district.

Sources said that apart from the CBI arresting Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy at an “appropriate time” in January, the enforcement directorate will soon take steps to “freeze” the accounts of Jagati Public-ations, publisher of the Telugu daily Sakshi in the next few days. A YSR Congress party spokesperson, on condition of anonymity, told this correspondent that the Pulivendula legislator Vijayamma, mother of Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy, will take over the reins of the party affairs and will undertake the Vodarpu tour.

“It (arrest of Jagan Mohan Reddy) is going to be a blessing in disguise for the YSR party. There has been criticism of Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy over his autocratic style of functioning and there is also a rethinking in the party cadre about the news reports appearing in a section of the media that one day or the other, Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy will rejoin the Congress. All this will end once he is arrested, and it is going to create a new begining in state politics,” said the party spokesperson. However, people in the ruling Congress circles feel that the heaven is not going to fall with the arrest of Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy in the days to come.

“We have reports that Jagan Mohan Reddy’s influence is waning with each passing day, but in the long run, nothing is going to damage the Congress as elections are still two and a half years away,” said a senior leader of the Congress. Meanwhile, the arrest of Venumbaka Vijayasai Reddy sent shock waves through the YSR Congress party. Vijayasai Reddy was the trusted lieutenant not only of Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy but also of the late Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, having been his personal auditor for many years.

Mr Vijayasai Reddy has maintained close relations with the late YSR family, being a partner, advisor, aide as well as a financial consultant to Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy even before 2004. Mr Vijayasai Reddy was appointed one of the members of the TTD during YSR’s regime as Chief Minister.

Source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/cities/hyderabad/mother-finish-jagan-yatra-469