Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Friday assured Chief Minister-designate N Chandrababu Naidu that all commitments made to residual Andhra Pradesh will be fulfilled.
Moving forward following the decision to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh, the Congress on Tuesday night appointed separate Pradesh Congress Committee chiefs for Seemandhra and Telangana.
Lok Sabha and assembly polls on May 7 in Seemandhra seem to have narrowed down to a N Chandrababu Naidu versus Y S Jaganmohan Reddy fight, with the TDP chief seeking a comeback while the YSRC supremo is looking to expand his party's footprint in the political arena.
A day-long bandh called by United Andhra supporters, including Telugu Desam Party and YSR Congress, against draft Telangana Bill hit essential services in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema districts on Friday, inconveniencing several citizens.
The turbulent political scenario and overall chaos over the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh has hit several essential services across the state, but the medical sector has been the worst hit.
The Seemandhra Lawyers Joint Action Committee on Thursday said about 18 lakh cases were pending in various courts in 13 districts of Seemandhra as their protest against the Centre's decision to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh entered 100th day today.
With protests in Seemandhra against the Centre's decision to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh, the Congress on Tuesday appealed to people in the region to give up their agitation so that a solution that benefits both sides could be arrived at.
A committee has been set up to finalise the capital for the region, which will consult both Union government and both the new state governments. Vicky Nanjappa reports
Seemandhra to be a surplus state; Telangana will have to depend on other regions, says B Dasarath Reddy
The Telugu Desam Party-Bharatiya Janata Party combine on Friday appeared set for an impressive performance in Seemandhra by leading in about 90 Assembly seats, followed by YSR Congress in around 70, out of the total 175 seats in the region.
The results in Seemandhra have shocked YSR Congress chief Jaganmohan Reddy.
In a bid to stall the formation of Telangana, leaders from Seemandhra region have decided to move the Supreme Court. This decision comes in the wake of a public interest litigation filed by the group on Friday which was admitted by the Andhra Pradesh high court.
The ruling Congress in Andhra Pradesh on Monday suffered a major blow in the urban civic body polls in the Seemandhra region, where opposition Telugu Desam Party put up a stellar performance, but stole the show in Telangana for whose statehood the party claims credit.
With erstwhile Congress leaders likely to get drubbed in the region, the battle for Seemandhra is all about the Telugu Desam Party and the YSR Congress. While it's a crucial election for TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu, who might end up taking political sanyas if the results don't go his favour, YSR Congress president Jaganmohan Reddy will leave no stone unturned to become the first chief minister of the region.
The issue of resignation by Congress MPs from Seemandhra continues to hang fire. Their meeting with Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, which was scheduled for Tuesday, has been delayed further.
Stepping up their agitation, power employees in Seemandhra on Sunday began an indefinite strike to protest the decision to divide Andhra Pradesh.
The second day of the 72-hour-long Seemandhra strike against Telangana state turned out to be more violent and tense as the police had to resort to firing in the air and use of tear gas shells and batons at many places.
The Telugu Desam Party has confirmed that its chief Chandrababu Naidu will be sworn in as the chief minister of Seemandhra on June 8. The swearing-in will take place six days after Telangana Rashtra Samithi supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao is sworn in as the chief minister of Telangana.
The Centre's decision to create Telangana today triggered further protests in Seemandhra region and a flurry of resignations by union ministers and MPs opposed to the division of Andhra Pradesh.
Facing flak over his pepper spray attack in Lok Sabha during introduction of the Telangana Bill, Seemandhra MP L Rajagopal on Friday regretted the act, but maintained that he had done it in self defence.
A bandh called by the YSR Congress, Telugu Desam Party and other anti-Telangana political parties is being observed in Seemandhra region of Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday to protest against the passage of the AP Reorganisation Bill-2013 in the Lok Sabha.
Ministers from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions, including Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, of Andhra Pradesh are likely to resign from their posts en masse as soon as the ongoing debate on the draft AP Reorganisation Bill-2013 concludes.
Congress members of Parliament from Seemandhra on Friday hit out at the party leadership for not allowing them to move a resolution at the AICC conclave against the Centre's decision to divide Andhra Pradesh.
Seemandhra Congress leader and Lok Sabha MP Lagadapati Rajagopal on Tuesday moved Delhi high court seeking its direction to Speaker Meira Kumar to accept his resignation as member of the House, submitted two months ago.
Voters from the Gudivada assembly constituency refuse to cast their ballot, protest outside offices of political parties. Vicky Nanjappa reports
Having won in 2009 nearly half of the 64 seats going to polls in the penultimate round, the Congress appears to face a difficult task as people in the whole of Seemandhra, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand lined up to cast their vote in the Lok Sabha elections on Wednesday.
A series of protests continued in the Seemandhra region of Andhra Pradesh for the sixth consecutive day on Monday against the Congress and the United Progressive Alliance's decision to bifurcate the state for creation of Telangana.
In a move bound to create a major political storm in Andhra Pradesh, the law ministry has given a go ahead the home ministry note on Telangana.
United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to implement the commitments made by the previous Congress-led government to Seemandhra, which include grant of special category status to it and execution of Polavaram multi-purpose irrigation project.
The Bharatiya Janata Party is ready to break its alliance with the Telugu Desam Party if it means getting more numbers from a tie-up with YSR Congress chief Jaganmohan Reddy. Vicky Nanjappa reports
Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Friday described the protests in Seemandhra region against bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh as quite natural, saying wherever a new state is carved out, such feelings are bound to come. Shinde also ruled out the possibility of creating any more states in the country.
Assembly elections in Telangana and residuary Andhra Pradesh may not be held along with the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
With Congress general secretary incharge of Andhra Pradesh affairs repeatedly making it clear that the decision to bifurcate the state and carve out Telangana was final, nearly half a dozen Congress MPs from Andhra and Rayalaseema region are likely to quit on Monday.
Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu, who will be sworn in as chief minister on June 2 (the day Telangana will come into existence), is contemplating making Vijayawada or a city nearby the state capital. Sources close to Naidu said that this would not create a rift between the people of Rayalaseema and Andhra.
Normal life was crippled in Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions today as united Andhra Pradesh supporters, including TDP, YSR Congress, observed a bandh against the Union Cabinet's approval of the draft Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation bill.
In the wake of widespread violence and protests by anti-bifurcation agitators in Andhra Pradesh, Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Monday sought to assuage the feelings of Seemandhra people, saying their genuine concerns on security, education, employment in Hyderabad would be taken care of.
Curfew has been imposed in Vizianagaram town with police given the orders to shoot at sight in the wake of large-scale violence by anti-bifurcation agitators, police said.
Defying shoot-at-sight orders and a curfew, anti-bifurcation agitators on Sunday hit the streets in Vizianagaram town and other parts of the district and clashed with police.
With Parliament clearing the way for formation of Telangana state, the focus now shifts on identifying a new 'capital' for the (residuary) state of Andhra Pradesh.
Science and Technology Minister S Jaipal Reddy, who represents the Chevella Lok Sabha constituency in Andhra Pradesh, is considered a front runner for the post of chief minister of the proposed state of Telangana. He gives his first formal interview to rediff.com's Anita Katyal.
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