Treading a cautious path on the Telangana issue, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy said in Hyderabad on Thursday that the Centre should address the complicated issues concerned with the bifurcation of the state first before it embarks on the process.
This case revolves around the establishment of clusters of Centers of Excellence (CoEs) in the state of Andhra Pradesh, with a total estimated project value of Rs 3,300 crores.
Promising "Rajanna Rajyam", a state envisaged by her father and former Chief Minister of AP late Rajasekhara Reddy, in Telangana, she said the YSR Telangana Party's main agenda would be on three issues -- welfare, self-prosperity and equality.
The top law officer was of the view that the "prima facie" conduct of the chief minister and his principal advisor was 'contumacious', but declined consent saying Reddy had sent the letter to Chief Justice of India S A Bobde who was seized of the matter.
The chief minister wrote a letter to Chief Justice of India S A Bobde in an unprecedented move alleging that the Andhra Pradesh high court was being used to "destabilise and topple my democratically elected government."
There have been rumours doing the rounds on social media over the past few days that Sharmila plans to start a political party in Telangana state without her brother's intervention.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jaganmohan Reddy on Friday promised to allot five acres of land in the port city of Visakhapatnam to ace shuttler P V Sindhu for setting up a badminton academy for girls.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it will not restrain the trial court from dealing with a plea seeking police custody of former Andhra Pradesh chief minister and TDP leader N Chandrababu Naidu as it announced a new bench will hear his petition for quashing the FIR in the alleged Rs 371 crore scam in the state's Skill Development Corporation on October 3.
The issue of compensation for the calamity-hit farmers of Andhra Pradesh has become a contentious subject with the leader of opposition N Chandrababu Naidu and the Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy continuing their war of words.
The Congress government in Andhra Pradesh was on Monday vertically split over Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy's bid to move a resolution to return the bifurcation bill, with Telangana ministers demanding that he quit as they no longer recognised him as leader of the house.
Continuing his spree of sops for the poorer sections, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy on Monday launched the scheme of supplying tur dal or red gram through the ration shops at Rs 30 per kg against the market price of Rs 49 per kg.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament K Chiranjeevi expressed grief over the death of Bollywood star Rajesh Khanna on Wednesday.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu constituted his council of ministers on Sunday night, considering their experience and social equations, giving due representation to women as well as backward castes.
The chief minister reportedly poured out his anguish over the MP's open outbursts, against the Congress leadership in general and him in particular, when a handful of MLAs met him in his chambers in the state assembly. Many MLAs lined up to meet Rosaiah as the Assembly resumed after a two-day holiday and it was during this period that the recalcitrant Jagan launched the attack on the chief minister as well as the Congress leadership.
Ruling out the possibility of Naxals shooting down the helicopter of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, Union Minister M M Pallam Raju on Thursday said the mishap that claimed Reddy's life took place due to bad weather."The possibility of a Naxal strike on the chief minister's helicopter is ruled out completely. It was an accident due to bad weather. There is no hand of Naxalites," Minister of State for Defence Raju said.
"People are committing sins and to get rid of them they are going to temples and offering money," the chief minister remarked, during his inaugural address at the two-day conference of district collectors in Vijayawada on Wednesday.
Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia had misgivings on how and why the chief minister could raise so much money by selling government land, but eventually cleared the annual plan that was promised to be funded by a 32 per cent increase in the state's tax revenues. He put on record his doubts in a 3-page communication to the prime minister on April 23, 2008, a copy of which is with rediff.com
Raising the issue in the Andhra Pradesh assembly, Naidu said, "What Shah wrote is a pack of lies and half-truths. It is not only insulting but also provoking the people of AP. It lacked any dignity."
Andhra Pradesh will witness another son rise on the political horizon. Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, the only son of Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy is getting ready to take a plunge and contest the elections from the Kadapa Lok Sabha constituency, a family fiefdom for decades.
Replying to the debate on the motion of thanks for the Governor's address in the state legislative assembly, Dr Reddy said, "The incidents of bomb blasts at Mecca Masjid, Lumbini Park and Gokul Chat Eatery in Hyderabad were related to cross-border terrorism. Many innocent lives were lost in these incidents." "Al Qaeda, by clubbing the United States, Israel and India together unnecessarily, is targeting our country without any rhyme or reason," he said.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy on Tuesday dared Leader of Opposition and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu to agree to an enquiry commission to investigate the wealth accumulated by them and their family members over the last three decades. Dr Reddy lambasted Naidu for alleging that he was making Rs one crore per hour through corrupt means. In fact, during his nine-year rule, Naidu was used to earning income on an hourly basis, the CM alleged.
The state government was committed to achieve zero HIV positive rate among new-born babies by having effective screening of pregnant women to prevent vertical transmission of the disease, he said.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and his cabinet colleagues, barring two, from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions on Wednesday submitted "affidavits" stating their opposition to the proposed bifurcation of the state and rejecting the AP Reorganisation Bill-2013.
The next few days would, however, not witness much protests in the Telangana region.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy's efforts to placate the Congress MLAs from Telangana to give up their agitation, as the Centre would make an announcement on the issue in the first week of March, failed to yield any positive result.
Even as the Union Cabinet on Thursday took up the note on Telangana state for discussion, the Seemandhra leaders fighting to keep the state united, met Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy to discuss their counter strategy.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and Praja Rajyam Party chief K Chiranjeevi on Thursday met Governor E S L Narasimhan separately, amidst the speculation that the state is heading for President's rule.
A late night telephone call from Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy to Praja Rajyam Party president K Chiranjeevi has led to wide-spread speculation that his party legislators might be inducted into the Congress ministry to checkmate rebel Member of Parliament Y S Jaganmohan Reddy. The call from the chief minister, who is currently camping in New Delhi, to the PRP president indicated that the high command was in no mood to be accommodative.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy held meetings with Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on Sunday.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy Wednesday raised the issue of foreign web-based firms not cooperating with security agencies in monitoring anti-national activities of terror outfits.
The Congress high command has summoned Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy and former chief minister and Tamil Nadu Governor K Rosaiah to discuss the Telangana issue. The Congress high command, while delaying its final decision on creating a separate state, had stated that it wanted to consult senior leaders from the state about it.
Addressing a press conference in Hyderabad on Friday Rosaiah said that he will abide by the decisions and directions of high command on the issue of Telangana but so far he had not received any instruction on when to move a resolution in the state assembly.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah said on Tuesday that if there was a conspiracy behind the death of former chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy in a helicopter crash, it needs to be uncovered.
The decision of Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen to withdraw support from the Andhra Pradesh government has spurred hectic behind the scene activity in the ruling Congress party.