Former Congress legislator joins BJP in Chhattisgarh

October 14th, 2009 HYDERABAD - An Andhra Pradesh legislator and 10 of his supporters were arrested in Krishna district Wednesday for allegedly removing the foundation stone of a road laid by a state minister at a function, to which he was not invited. Peeved at the ruling Congress party leaders not inviting him to the function, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) legislator Kodali Venkateshwara Rao and his supporters uprooted the plaque in Gudivada town.

September 5th, 2009 RAIPUR - Chhattisgarh police ordered a probe Saturday into an extortion demand by suspected Maoists from a ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator. "We have begun a probe into a letter allegedly sent by some Maoist rebels to BJP legislator Renuka Singh seeking money," Inspector General of Police (Surguja) R.C.

August 21st, 2009 RAIPUR - Congress General secretary Rahul Gandhi on Friday accused the State Government in Chhattisgarh of not tackling the Maoists problem. Addressing a press conference here, he blamed the State Government for losing touch with the people at the grassroots level and thus 'creating Maoists'.

August 21st, 2009 RAIPUR - Maoist violence was continuing in certain parts of the country because development was not reaching the troubled areas, particularly in states like Chhattisgarh, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi said here Friday. Accusing Chhattisgarh's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government of failing to reach the fruits of development to vast Maoist-hit areas, Gandhi said: "If the government fails to reach people, then problem begins, and this is the case in Chhattisgarh." "See how Andhra Pradesh tackled the Maoist problem, it actually took the central government welfare schemes to problem-hit areas, but in Chhattisgarh the government is not reaching trouble-hit areas," the Congress leader told a press conference here.

August 19th, 2009 RAIPUR - Chhattisgarh Congress maintained silence Wednesday after a party legislator from Ambikapur seat, T.S. Singhdeo, was held at the Bhopal airport after security personnel found him carrying 10 live cartridges.

August 3rd, 2009 RAIPUR - From Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh downwards, most of the state cabinet is camping in Mt Abu in Rajasthan to attend meditation classes. A Congress legislator who couldn't join the trip wryly commented that "we hope they will come back with new ideas on how to handle insurgents".

July 28th, 2009 RAIPUR - The opposition Congress staged a walkout Tuesday in the Chhattisgarh assembly, accusing the state's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government of doing little to prevent trafficking of thousands of youth, mainly girls, from poor families to metros. The house witnessed a heated debate when the government replied in the assembly it was doing its best to trace out an estimated 7,000 people missing in the state for many years.

June 29th, 2009 SHILLONG - The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is in for a major setback in Meghalaya with its lone legislator all set to quit the party over its alleged communal credentials. I am from a Christian state and hence cannot continue to be with the BJP that still has Hindutva and construction of the Ram temple as its main agenda, A.L.

April 13th, 2009 BHOPAL - A Congress party legislator was shot at by unidentified assailants in Bhind district of Madhya Pradesh Monday evening, police said. Makhan Singh Jatav is a legislator from Gohad assembly constituency in the state.

April 11th, 2009 RAIPUR - As many as nine candidates in Chhattisgarh have criminals cases pending against them and seven have assets worth over Rs.1 crore (Rs.10 million), a NGO said here Saturday. 'There are nine candidates with criminal cases pending against them contesting Lok Sabha polls in Chhattisgarh,' Gautam Kumar Bandyopadhyay, coordinator of Chhattisgarh Election Watch, told IANS.

March 29th, 2009 RANCHI - Thomas Hansda, a Congress legislator in Jharkhand, Sunday said he had quit the party and joined the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), as he hoped to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Rajmahal. In the seat-sharing understanding between the Congress and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), the Rajmahal Lok Sabha seat has been given to the latter.

March 17th, 2009 AHMEDABAD - Miffed over not being given a ticket for the parliamentary polls, a Congress legislator in Gujarat resigned from the party Monday and sought to join the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Sami Haji legislator Bhavsinh Rathod wanted to contest the Patan Lok Sabha seat in North Gujarat but he was not considered by the party leadership.

March 10th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Congress party Monday released a list of six candidates for Chhattisgarh for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, including four for reserved constituencies. The list includes candidates for three seats reserved for the Scheduled Tribes and one for the Scheduled Castes.

February 4th, 2009 KOLKATA - The West Bengal Congress Legislature Party (CLP) Thursday wrote to the state assembly speaker demanding action against a Congress legislator who joined the Trinamool Congress in the recent past. 'We've written to state assembly Speaker Hasim Abdul Halim demanding removal of Congress legislator Sudip Bandopadhyay from the post of chairman of the state assembly's Standing Committee on Commerce and Industries,' state CLP leader Manas Bhuniya told mediapersons here Thursday.

December 31st, 2008 RAIPUR - The Chhattisgarh government Thursday announced that it has split the state electricity board into five entities - one holding company and four others to manage transmission, distribution, production and trading. The new companies are - Chhattisgarh State Power Transmission Co.