Buzz: Chiru's Will be a Family Party!

Mega star Chiranjeevi's proposed political party will be nothing more than a "dynastic rule" like that of the Telugu Desam and the Congress. There will be no democratic procedures in the film actor's political party as and when it is announced. To begin with, Chiranjeevi's political party will be led by 1) the film actor himself, 2) his younger brothers, 3) his son and above all 4) his brother-on-law. Since all these five people are from the film industry, they all will participate in the election campaign and in public meetings to popularize the new political party, in case it is formed at all.

The top five positions in Chiranjeevi's party will be occupied by himself, his brothers, his son and his brother-in-law. So anyone who wants to occupy an important position in the new political party will have to be contented with positions down No. 5. If Chiranjeevi wants to keep his son away from politics for the time being, then the outsider, who will be the luckiest one, will have to accept the position No. 5.

And this is precisely the reason why Chiranjeevi is not getting the backing he needed from his own caste leaders or from seasoned politicians. They do not want to play second fiddle (in fact it is the fifth fiddle) to Chiranjeevi. Unless Chiranjeevi announces that he will keep his family away from the new political party, in case he chooses to announce one, there will be no political future for the film star's outfit.

People are already fed up with family rule in the Congress and the Telugu Desam. The TRS leadership is also treading the path of the Congress and KCR has brought his son to succeed him.

Second SRC rumours put KCR in trouble

All of a sudden there was a report in a TV channel that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has cleared the proposal for the constitution of the second States Reorganisation Commission. But the news later turned out to be just a hoax. There was no truth in the report. But it has stirred up all major political parties and senior leaders in the backward Telangana region. The Telangana Bhavan, headquarters of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, which is spearheading the cause of separate State for Telangana, started buzzing with full of activity. There was no one to either confirm or deny the report. Frantic calls were made to New Delhi from Hyderabad and senior leaders kept glossed to TV screens for any update on the second SRC.

As the day progressed, the TV channel stopped its news report and the Central government has clarified that no such orders were issued on the second SRC.

TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao was seen quite busy. In fact all political parties except the Congress are against second SRC. The TRS, though it had signed an agreement with the Congress prior to Assembly elections that it would abide by the second SRC, had later backtracked and it now does not want any new States Reorganisation Commission, The TRS wants Telangana to be declared unilaterally by the Cabinet without having gone through the regular and established procedure. So in this backdrop the TV channel created fuss among Telangana leaders, particularly those in the TRS and the Congress.

Behind The Scene: Telangana state soon?

New Delhi: The Congress has in principle decided to request the UPA government to set up a second states reorganization commission (SRC) to look into formation of some new states, including Telangana. The move is designed to beat the anti-incumbency effect that the ruling party will have to counter in the 2009 general elections.

Despite the PM’s Office denying TV reports on Tuesday and asserting that there is no such move, highly placed Congress sources told media that a formal letter would be written by Congress president Sonia Gandhi to PM Manmohan Singh very soon, requesting the UPA government to set up a second SRC.

Sources said the AICC general secretary in charge of AP, M Veerappa Moily, is arriving in Hyderabad for a meeting with Youth Congress leaders and the issue of second SRC is expected to figure in his talks with state party leaders. The first SRC was set up in 1955; following its report, states were reorganised in 1956.

A delegation of the Telangana Regional Congress Coordination Committee is likely to meet party president Sonia Gandhi next week and according to sources, the announcement of formation of a second SRC may come up after that.

The second SRC would take up demands for the creation of Telangana (AP), Vidarbha (Maharashtra) and trifurcation of UP. “While the demands for Telangana and Vidarbha have been on for some time, UP CM Mayawati has supported the division,” a Congress leader said.

While there are demands for smaller states, the second SRC would consider only the three above mentioned demands, the sources said. Thus, the pleas for creation of smaller territories like Gondwana (Chhattisgarh), Gorkhaland (West Bengal), Kodagu (Karnataka), Bodoland (Assam), Ladakh (Jammu and Kashmir), Garoland (Meghalaya) and Mithilanchal (Bihar) would not be taken up.

Hillary wins NH primary to regain momentum

Washington (IANS) Former first lady Hillary Clinton has won the Democratic presidential primary in New Hampshire with 39 percent of the vote, with 73 percent of precincts counted.

All three major US cable news networks late Tuesday declared her the winner over Senator Barack Obama who conceded defeat after receiving 36 percent of the vote in the intra-party election.

Speaking immediately afterwards, Hillary told cheering supporters: "You deserve a president who stands up for the people." She promised to "end the war in Iraq the right way" and "to restore American credibility throughout the world".

John Edwards came third among the Democrats, polling 17 percent, DPA news agency reported.

Senator John McCain, a backer of the US troop build-up in Iraq, won the Republican poll.

Vietnam war hero McCain, 71, claimed victory with 37 percent over former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, once the New Hampshire front-runner, who ran second with 32 percent.

"Tonight we sure showed them what a comeback looks like," McCain exclaimed to a cheering crowd of supporters in Nashua, New Hampshire. "We celebrate one victory tonight and leave for Michigan tomorrow to win another."

New Hampshire, a small northeastern state, traditionally holds the first primary in US presidential election year. Michigan holds the next contest on Jan 15 in the series of state-by-state votes to determine the Republican and Democratic nominees.