'Many veteran leaders in the Odisha BJP had met them, but their problems were never sorted out.'
The four main parties in Andhra Pradesh; Congress, Telugu Desam Party, Telangana Rashtra Samithi and the Bharatiya Janata Party all say they support a separate state of Telangana, but there have been no concrete steps in that direction. A Ganesh Nadar reports.
The resignation of 12 members of Parliament of various political parties from Telangana region in Andhra Pradesh has not been accepted by Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar.
Lok Sabha was adjourned till noon on Monday as Telangana Rashtra Samithi members raised slogans for Telangana statehood, a demand which was endorsed by Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj who asked the government to list the steps taken by it on the issue.
Asserting that it won't compromise on the separate Telangana demand, Telangana Rashtra Samithi on Wednesday said a states' reorganisation commission, if appointed by the Centre to go into the issue of formation of new states, would not be acceptable to it.
The ongoing Telugu Desam Party-Telangana Rashtra Samithi war of words continued on Friday with TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao demanding an apology from leaders of the main Opposition party for making false allegations against him
Rejecting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's appeal, Telangana protesters on Monday threatened to intensify their agitation if the Centre does not immediately announce the formation of the state even as Telangana Rashtra Samithi chief K Chandrasekhar Rao declared he may go on a fast-unto-death.
The pro-Telangana agitation should be continued with full steam to make the Centre accept the separate statehood demand in a few months from now, Telangana Rashtra Samithi President K Chandrasekhar Rao said on Thursday. "Unity is our strength. We will definitely achieve Telangana. Delhi must climb down and give Telangana in a month or two," he asserted.
In a bid to placate anti-Telangana groups, Telangana Rashtra Samithi president K Chandrasekhar Rao on Wednesday said Hyderabad can be a shared capital for two states for a "limited period" in the event of division of Andhra Pradesh, if that is an acceptable solution to the contentious Telangana issue.
The Hyderabad police have registered 16 cases against pro-Telangana activists, including Telangana Rashtra Samithi leaders K Chandrasekhar Rao, in connection with the violence during the 'Million March' on Thursday.
The stage was set for a do-or-die battle for separate Telangana state, as government employees and teachers of the region along with all the other sections of the society will go on an indefinite strike from Tuesday.
The Telangana Joint Action Committee, Telangana Rashtra Samithi and other pro-Telangana parties on Wednesday criticised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's remarks that the Centre was trying to arrive at a consensus on Telangana issue.
Political parties of all hues, including the ruling Congress, Telugu Desam Party and Bharatiya Janata Party in Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday welcomed the Centre's decision to repeal a clause in a 1975 Presidential Order for the benefit of Telangana, while the Telangana Rashtra Samithi and student groups said they would continue their campaign till the orders are issued officially.
Stepping up the agitation for introduction of a bill for formation of Telangana state in the budget session of Parliament, activists of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, Bharatiya Janata Party, and several other organisations staged road blockades across the region on Monday.
Delhi Police on Thursday registered an FIR against Telangana Rashtra Samithi MLA Harish Rao and others for allegedly assaulting a senior official of the Andhra Pradesh Bhawan in New Delhi over an argument.
The Telangana Rashtra Samithi on Sunday decided not to attend the meeting called by Home Minister P Chidambaram in New Delhi on Thursday to discuss the Justice Srikrishna Committee report on Telangana, saying there would be divergent views at the meeting as parties will have members from both regions.
The NDA's combined parliamentary and state-level committed Presidential votes number around 12,000 fewer than a majority.
K Chandrasekhar Rao, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi president and Telangana chief minister-elect, has called for a shutdown in the region on Thursday to protest the Centre's reported move to issue an ordinance merging certain villages in Khammam district into residuary Andhra Pradesh.
The issue of separate Telangana generated heat in the Lok Sabha, which witnessed two brief adjournments on Tuesday as Telangana Rashtra Samithi, Telugu Desam Party and some Congress members vociferously raised the issue.
In a bizarre incident, a pro Telangana youth committed self immolation in Osmania University as a 'thanksgiving to God for fulfilling his wish that state Congress president D Srinivas should be defeated in the by elections in Telangana.'
Stalin said one cannot and should not decide the mood of the entire country based on the results of one state elections.
Even as the Telangana Rashtra Samithi and others celebrated the Centre's announcement to initiate the process for carving out a separate Telangana State, over 200 people were taken into preventive custody on Thursday after widespread protests in Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra regions of the state.
Telangana Rashtra Samithi's (TRS) 48-hour bandh has incurred a huge loss to the coastal areas of East Godavari, West Godvari and Viskhapatnam.
In a significant development in the separate Telangana state agitation, the Clause 14 (f) of the 1975 Presidential Order, which had made Hyderabad a free zone for employment, was deleted on Friday.
Normal life was thrown out of gear at several places across Andhra Pradesh on Monday due to the shutdown called by the Telangana Rashtra Samithi to protest the arrest of their leader K Chandrasekhar Rao, who continued his fast in prison.
In a fresh drama, Andhra Pradesh legislative assembly speaker Nadendla Manohar has rejected the resignations of all the 101 MLAs from the Telangana region.
Abstention by the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi also helped the government get its legislation through in the upper house where the ruling party does not enjoy a majority.
In an interview with rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa, Kalvakuntla Taraka Rama Rao, TRS legislator and the son of party chief K Chandrashekhar Rao, outlines the party's future course of action.
Mamata Banerjee's sights are not on the next month's Presidential election. She is focusing on another election that will take place in 2024.
A youth allegedly attempted suicide in support of Telangana demand during an official programme attended by a ruling Congress MLA in Warangal on Thursday.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday called for a "main front" of all non-BJP parties to take on the ruling alliance in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and asserted that the decision on its leadership can be taken later.
Dismissing speculation that his party would be merged with Congress, Telangana Rashtra Samithi President K Chandrasekhara Rao on Friday said the party would retain its independence.
A Mulsim would be made the deputy chief minister and 12 per cent reservations provided to the community after the formation of separate Telangana state, Telangana Rashtra Samithi president K Chandrasekhar Rao said in Hyderabad on Sunday.
Rediff Labs analysed the 2013 assembly election results to develop a Sentiment Meter for the 2018 electoral battle.
It may be recalled that a large number of TDP leaders have switched over to the TRS in the last few years which has weakened the party substantially in Telangana.
The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Tuesday stayed all further proceedings, including arrest of Telangana Rashtra Samithi chief K Chandrasekhar Rao's daughter Kavitha.
The issue of constituting a mechanism for the wide ranging consultations promised by the Centre on Telangana is expected to come up on Friday at a meeting of the Congress core group headed by party president Sonia Gandhi.
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.
The war of words between the Telugu Desam Party and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi intensified on Wednesday with TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao alleging that it was TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu who derailed the process of formation of Telangana state after the Centre had announced a positive decision over the issue.
On the eve of an all-party meeting on Telangana, Telangana Rashtra Samithi chief K Chandrashekhar Rao on Monday said the Centre should follow its announcement on creation of a separate state with a resolution in Parliament but set no deadline for it.