YSR, who seemed to enjoy his new role, said, "I have been acting in the politics for last forty years and now I have got an opportunity to act in a film."
The two-week-long search operation in the Balimela reservoir in Malkangiri district of Orissa has been completed by the search teams from the Andhra Pradesh police and Indian Navy as all the 38 bodies of Greyhound commandos and police personnel were found.
T Devender Goud, the former No 2 in the Telugu Desam Party, formally launched a new regional political party 'Nava Telangana Praja Party' by unveiling a colourful flag of the party, declaring that the formation of Telangana state was the goal of the party.
The toll in the attack of Maoist rebels on a launch at the Balimela reservoir near the Andhra Pradesh-Orissa border on May 29, has turned out to be higher than anticipated. While so far 33 bodies have been recovered, officials have declared five more personnel including two Greyhound commandos as missing.
With the Left parties' withdrawal of support from the Manmohan Singh led United Progressive Alliance creating a political uncertainty at the Centre, some leaders have started efforts to woo Telangana Rashtra Samiti president K Chandrasekhara Rao, to secure his support for the beleaguered coalition."I told him clearly that we will extend support to the UPA only if the government announces the formation of Telangana state," Rao told reporters in Hyderabad.
The latest name to join the list of the stars being sought out by parties is of Mahesh Babu, also known as the prince of Telugu films for his popularity with the new generation of Telugus. Son of veteran actor and former Congress MP G S Krishna, Mahesh Babu is being primed for a political role ahead of the next elections.
Naidu, whose 150-day-long Mee Kosam Yatra entered the West Godavari district on Sunday night spoke to Rao for 15 minutes, well informed and reliable sources in the TDP said. Since Chandrasekhara Rao left the TDP in 2001 and launched the movement for Telangana and formed his own political party, it was first time that the two leaders spoke directly.
Using the 'Hot Balloon' technique, experts from the Indian Navy brought the launch to the surface on Sunday evening, exactly eight days after it had drowned in an attack by the rebels of the Communist Party of India-Maoist killing more than 30 Greyhound commandos and policemen.
The Telugu Desam Party continued to suffer the jolts with another senior leader from coastal Andhra region indicating that he was on the way out. M Pedda Rathaiah, four time legislator and former minister from Guntur district, held a meeting with his supporters and followers at his residence on Saturday to take a final decision about his political future.
Telugu Desam party is facing a storm in Andhra Pradesh. Within days of party's most influential leader in Telangana region, T Devender Goud, quitting its ranks to form his own party, the TDP has loss yet another strong leader -- this time in the Rayala Seema region.
Five more bodies were recovered from the Machkund (Balimela) reservoir by the search teams and airlifted to Visakhapatnam for post-mortem. Akun Sabharwal, the district superintendent of police, Visakhapatnam, told the media at Chitrakund that so far 15 bodies have been found and another 21 bodies are believed to be stuck in the sunken vessel.
Even as search operation continues for the 35 missing Greyhound commandos on the Andhra Pradesh-Orissa border for the third consecutive day, police officials have also started apprehending that at least some of the missing persons have been taken hostage by the Maoists after attacking the launch in Machkund reservoir on Sunday.
The Andhra Pradesh government has ordered a probe into the deadly Maoist attack in the AP-Orissa border, where at least 35 policemen are feared drowned.
Naval divers were pressed into operation to look for 36 personnel of an elite anti-naxal Force, who were feared drowned in a reservoir at the Andhra Pradesh-Orissa border, where their launch sunk after being fired upon by Maoists.Reports said that three more personnel of a 64-member strong squad of Andhra Pradesh's elite Greyhound Force swam to the banks with injuries, official sources said, adding that they were immediately air-lifted to Bhuwaneswar for treatment.
Amid growing concern over the safety of the missing 28 policemen in a water reservoir on the Andhra-Orissa border, the government of Andhra Pradesh has pressed two more helicopters from the Oil and Natural Gas Commission to help in the search and rescue operations. While the deaths of five policemen have already been confirmed, the senior police officials at the spot have expressed fears that the death toll may go up further to at least 12.
Prominent intellectuals, academicians, writers and activists from the Telangana region on Saturday urged former Telugu Desam Party leader T Devender Goud to work with organisations and groups that are already fighting for a separate Telangana state.
K Srinivas, editor of the Telugu daily Andhra Jyothy, was released from the Chanchalguda jail on Friday evening, along with two other journalists from the same newspaper, 24 hours after a local court had granted them bail. Though the surety of Rs 10,000 each was submitted to the court and necessary documents were handed over to the jail authorities in the morning, the release was delayed till evening due to the non-completion of formalities by the officials.
A Hyderabad metropolitan court granted bail to the editor of Telugu daily Andhra Jyothy, K Srinivas and two reporters, two days after they were arrested under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. They were released on bail on a surety of Rs 10,000 each.
Journalists across Andhra Pradesh came out on the streets on Wednesday to protest the arrest of the editor and two journalists of Andhra Jyothy, a prominent Telugu daily, on Thursday night.Hundreds of journalists, along with the members of various political parties, took out a rally in Hyderabad from the Press Club at Basheerbagh to the Ambedkar statue at Tank Bund. They raised slogans against the YS Rajasekhara Reddy government and the police.
T Devender Goud, who quit the Telugu Desam party over the Telangana issue, has made it clear that his future political plans do not include any tie up with the Telangana Rahstra Samiti of K Chandrasekhara Rao or any other political party. Goud, the former No 2 of the TDP, told mediapersosn that he has convened a meeting of the intellectuals and the elders, who have been associated with the Telangana movement, on June 28.
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