Megastar turned politician Chiranjeevi has made it official that he won’t be putting on make-up to his face. When asked about the rumors of he playing a role of Chief Minister in his forthcoming movie, Chiranjeevi emphatically stated that he is dedicated his life to public service now and not interested in returning to films. He also further added that he would love to play the role of Chief Minister in real life than on silver screen.

“I ask my fans to see me in the performances of Ram Charan on screen. I will not act again, ” he said.

CHENNAI: The cadre and supporters of AIADMK were not the only ones cheering when J Jayalalithaa took her oath as chief minister of Tamil Nadu on Monday. Ripples of her victory over rival DMK were also felt in the corporate world where laptop manufacturers, sensing an opportunity in her triumph, were proposing a toast to the mercurial actor-turned-politician.

The reason for their broad grins was Jayalalithaa’s campaign pledge to dole out free laptops to students of class XI and XII.

Considering that there are about 1.4 million students in the state eligible for this freebie, laptop-makers are looking at an order valued at between Rs 140 crore and Rs 350 crore from the state government.

HYDERABAD: A criminal court in Hyderabad on Thursday referred to Jubilee Hills police a private complaint that charged Praja Rajyam Party chief K Chiranjeevi with misleading and letting down the people of Telangana. The police were asked to investigate and submit their report to the court by June 15.

HYDERABAD: In perhaps the first time in the history of Indian legislature, a minister in the AP government slapped an opposition MLA right in the assembly minutes after the house met for the day. The minister in question is Y S Vivekananda Reddy, the brother of former chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy who is a member of the legislative council and present in the assembly in his capacity as agriculture minister.

Minutes after he slapped TDP MLA C H Prabhakar, the house was adjourned and the main opposition party is now demanding the resignation of Vivekananda Reddy as well as a breach of privilege by a member of another house on a legislator.

HYDERABAD: Unhappy over the delay in the formation of a separate Telangana state, a minister in Andhra Pradesh cabinet on Thursday sent his resignation to Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Other ministers and MPs from the region said they would decide on whether to quit after meeting the central leadership.

Congress MPs from Telangana, including Ponnam Prabhakar, G Sukhender Reddy, contemplated their resignation from Lok Sabha.

Visakhapatnam: After Jala Deeksha in Delhi, the stage is now set for Jaganmohan Reddy’s Jana Deeksha at the R K Beach here on Saturday.

Though the YSR scion is holding the deeksha to protest the hike in prices of petrol and essential commodities, insiders said it would primarily be a show of strength by the Jagan group targeting the Congress leaders.

According to the Jagan camp, a few Congress MLAs of neighbouring districts could join Jagan during the deeksha, which would be held from 11 am till 6 pm. While the crowds are being mobilised from the three north coastal districts, the aim behind holding the deeksha is to give a befitting reply to the district Congress, especially minister Balaraju, who stopped the district Congress MLAs and cadres from participating in the Odarpu yatra.

Claiming that BSP MLA Purshottam Naresh Dwiwedi was “physically unable” to commit rape, his wife Asha today demanded DNA and medical test to prove his involvement in the assault on a Dalit teenager in Banda.

“My husband is a patient of sugar and blood pressure for the last 18 years and his left kidney is also not working. With existing physical condition he cannot rape and being his wife I can say this with certainty,” Asha told reporters here.

“I demand that DNA and medical test of my husband should be conducted immediately,” she said.

MUMBAI: A member of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly on Friday allegedly assaulted a state government employee at the state secretariat here, leading to a flash-protest by the staff.

Bacchu Kadu, an independent from Achalpur constituency in Vidarbha, slapped the employee who works in the health department.

Kadu claimed he slapped the employee as he was asking for bribe to complete some pending work.

Following the incident, irate employees staged a noisy protest announcing they will stop cooperating with Kadu for any work relating to his constituency.(PTI)

HYDERABAD: The Srikrishna Committee report has put the Telangana Congress leaders in the hot seat. Caught between a non-committal high command and the electorate that is increasingly becoming hostile, 8 Telangana Congress Lok Sabha MPs on Friday passed a resolution urging the UPA government to introduce a Bill on the creation of Telangana in the coming budget session of Parliament failing which they would to resign from their elected posts.

New Delhi:  The five-member Justice Srikrishna Committee, which went into the demand for Telangana state, is expected to submit its report to Home Minister P Chidambaram today, a day before the term of the committee expires.

The issue of whether a separate state of Telangana should be sanctioned has been a divisive and emotive debate in Andhra Pradesh. Over the last year, there have been massive and violent protests by supporters and opponents of a Telangana state.

HYDERABAD: Bowing to the pressure from Congress MPs from Telangana, the party’s government in Andhra Pradesh Tuesday decided to withdraw all criminal cases filed during protests for a separate Telangana state.

After a series of discussions Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy had with ministers and other ruling party leaders from the region, the government agreed to withdraw the pending 967 cases. These will be in addition to the cases withdrawn earlier.

The cases were booked during the protests for and against a separate Telangana state in all three regions of the state between November 2009 and September 2010.

HYDERABAD: Former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu was forcibly given intravenous fluids (IV) at a hospital here but his Telugu Desam Party (TDP) claimed he was continuing his fast for the eighth day Friday, demanding relief for farmers who lost their crops in recent rains.

Doctors at Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) forcibly administered IV fluids as his condition had deteriorated Thursday night. NIMS director P.V. Ramesh said they had no other option as there was an imminent risk of Naidu slipping into irreversible health complications.

HYDERABAD: On the sixth day of his indefinite fast, TDP supremo Chandrababu Naidu is in a bad state at the Nizam Institute of Medical Sciences in Hyderabad. About 260km away on the banks of the Krishna, YS Jaganmohan Reddy is also on a fast: but with a difference.

Jagan’s is a 48-hour fast. Even though both he and Naidu are fasting for the same cause — relief for farmers — Jagan is drawing more public attention. Why? Part of the answer is that Jagan’s fast is a public mela: a highly publicized affair with two lakh people in attendance. In contrast, Naidu started his fast in the MLAs’ quarters and has now been bundled by the police to the confines of a hospital. But more than that it’s the image that Jagan portrayed of himself that’s grabbing eyeballs and attracting crowds.

HYDERABAD: After making suitable vastu changes in the CM camp office-cum-residence at Begumpet, chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy is all set to move in there on Friday morning.

According to sources, the CM will move in around 9.15 am. After performing ‘gruhapravesh puja’ with his family members, he will proceed to the assembly to take part in the winter session. There are no political invitees for the puja, the sources said.

Architects, specialised in vastu, have spruced up both the camp office and his residence, located behind the camp office. CM’s wife Radhika Reddy personally supervised the entire operation and ensured proper vastu alterations, they added.

HYDERABAD: Trouble is brewing in the Kiran Kumar Reddy government in Andhra Pradesh barely a day after 39 ministers were sworn in. Two ministers have already quit the ministry unhappy with the portfolios given to them. Ten more ministers are said to be unsatisfied and want to go to Delhi to meet Sonia Gandhi to represent their cases to her.

Early on Thursday, a few unhappy ministers met at the home of one of them, called up Sonia’s political secretary, Ahmed Patel, and requested him to organize a meeting with “Madam”. However, Patel is believed to have told them to stay put in Hyderabad and await the arrival of AICC members Ghulam Nabi Azad and Veerappa Moily. The ministers were also advised to attend the cabinet meeting scheduled for later in the day.

HYDERABAD: All eyes may be trained on how Jaganmohan Reddy weans away MLAs from the Congress, but the scion of the YSR family is quietly trying to lure legislators of Chiranjeevi’s Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) to his camp.

According to sources, Jagan is in talks with at least four PRP MLAs. Chiranjeevi’s party has 18 MLAs, so Jagan needs to win only six of them to split the PRP. Since the PRP is in talks with the Congress to join the Kiran Reddy government, this Jagan initiative could affect the ruling party’s plan to use the superstar to stabilize the government.

Hyderabad: Nallari Kiran Kumar Reddy, a YSR loyalist and former Andhra Pradesh Assembly Speaker, was sworn in as the 16th chief minister of the state.

Governor E S L Narasimhan administered the oath of office and secrecy to 50-year-old Kiran Kumar Reddy, who was chosen late last night as the leader of Congress Legislature Party in place of Konijeti Rosaiah who resigned from the chief minister’s post on Wednesday.

Union Ministers and party observers M Veerappa Moily, Ghulam Nabi Azad, outgoing chief minister Rosaiah and a host of Congress leaders, MLAs and MLCs attended the brief swearing-in ceremony in the Darbar Hall of Raj Bhavan.

NEW DELHI: In an interesting development, Andhra Pradesh chief minister K Rosaiah on Wednesday announced his resignation. Rosaiah was scheduled to meet the state governor to later in the day to submit his resignation.

“I have done my best as the CM of the state. No one asked for my resignation, it’s my own call,” Rosaiah said while announcing his resignation on TV.

Senior Congress leaders Pranab Mukherjee, Ahmed Patel and Moily are going to Hyderabad to deal with the situation.(TNN)

Beleaguered Karnataka Chief Minister B. S. Yeddyurappa, facing allegations of corruption and nepotism, yet again staved off a mounting challenge to his leadership as the BJP on Wednesday announced that he will continue in office.

“After consultations with senior party leaders and state leaders, the party has decided to continue with B. S. Yeddyurappa as Chief Minister of Karnataka,” BJP chief Nitin Gadkari said in a statement that set at rest political uncertainty in the ruling party in the State.

NEW DELHI: Union minister Prithviraj Chavan will be the next chief minister of Maharashtra succeeding Ashok Chavan who resigned in the wake of the Adarsh Housing Society scam.

The announcement was made by Union finance minister and senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee, a day after Chavan’s resignation.

“Congress president Sonia Gandhi has chosen Prithviraj Chavan as the Maharashtra Congress Legislature Party leader,” senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee told reporters after meeting Gandhi.

Mukherjee said Gandhi’s decision to choose Chavan as the CLP leader has been communicated to Maharashtra Congress chief Manikrao Thakre.