The division in the Andhra Pradesh Congress unit over the Telangana statehood demand on regional lines has been further accentuated by the appointment of Botsa Satyanarayana as Pradesh Congress Commit

Even before the defeat of the party at the hustings could sink in, a blame game seems to have begun in the DMK camp. According to sources, many in the DMK are of the view that former telecom minister A. Raja and Rajya Sabha MP and party chief M. Karunanidhi’s daughter Kanimozhi are responsible for the debacle as they disgraced the party in the 2G spectrum scam.

Despite claims to the contrary, the feud within the DMK’s first family was brought to the limelight, once again, during the submission made by noted lawyer Ram Jethmalani while defending DMK chief Karunanidhi’s daughter Ms Kanimozhi on Friday, in the special CBI court.

Upping the ante against Tamil Nadu state Congress president K.V. Thangabalu, Union shipping minister G.K. Vasan on Monday called on party supremo Sonia Gandhi and party general secretary Rahul Gandhi and sought to persuade them to remove Mr Thangabalu from the president ship of the state unit. A few days back Union home minister and senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram too made a similar request to Mrs Gandhi.

Among the states that are going to the polls in April-May, Tamil Nadu is the only one that is definitely going to have an effect on UPA-II, irrespective of whichever alliance-be it the DMK-led group or the Jayalalithaa-led camp- romps home. Therefore, it attracts the attention of political pundits and commoners, alike.

What really went wrong between the DMK and the Congress? The real trouble, Congress sources said, was not over the number of seats in the Assembly election but the UPA’s rejection of DMK boss M.

The Congress has upped the ante in seat-sharing negotiations with the DMK and has demanded 90 seats for the Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu. Besides that, it has insisted on power-sharing, formation of a coordination committee and drawing up a common minimum programme for a five-year period, according to sources.

Taking advantage of the circumstances in which the DMK is placed, Congress has upped the ante in seat-sharing negotiations and has demanded 90 seats for the forthcoming Assembly polls in Tamil Nadu. Besides that, the Congress has insisted on power-sharing, formation of a coordination committee and drawing up a common minimum programme for a five-year period, according to sources.

In a big boost to the Congress in Andhra Pradesh, Praja Rajyam chief Chiranjeevi on Sunday announced his party’s merger with the Congress.
Speaking after meeting Congress president Sonia Gandhi at her 10 Janpath residence, the filmstar-politician called the move “historic”, and added: “Our party’s main plank is social justice. The Congress too has the same plank. So we decided to merge.”

Declaring that he was forced to launch a party as the late Y.S. Rajasekhar’s government was corrupt, Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) chief Chiranjeevi on Sunday said, “Corruption was at its worst only during the reign of the late YSR.”