A well-intentioned cause for the creation of Telangana that fulfils the aspirations of the people has been made controversial on account of the lack of political management, says Arun Jaitley
Leaders of various parties from both sides of the political divide met President Pranab Mukherjee at the Raj Bhavan in Hyderabad on Monday night and put forth their arguments for and against the proposed bifurcation of the state.
The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill 2014, which got Parliament's approval on February 20 despite strong opposition from Seemandhra leaders, got the Presidential assent, paving the way for creation of the country's 29th state by splitting Andhra Pradesh.
Pawan Kalyan has proved that he is a bigger star in politics compared to his brother, megastar Chiranjeevi. However, despite being rivals on the political battlefield, the two brothers never entered into a slander match. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu on Monday began an indefinite fast in New Delhi to protest against the split of Andhra Pradesh, accusing the Congress of playing politics in view of the Lok Sabha polls, but remained ambivalent on Telangana.
It was felt that while Andhra Pradesh overall and Hyderabad had prospered, too much of that prosperity had been funnelled because of state politics to the influential coastal districts of the state.
N Chandrababu Naidu and his Telugu Desam party face a dilemma of how to woo both sides of the Andhra Pradesh divide, reports Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa
With talks between Bharatiya Janata Party and the Telugu Desam Party being stuck over sharing of seats in Andhra Pradesh, senior party leader Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday indicated that the BJP will contest upcoming polls on its own if the Chandrababu Naidu-led party fails to spell out its stand within 24 hours.
The government on Tuesday moved the volatile Telangana Bill for consideration in Lok Sabha but the pandemonium created by opponents to the legislation prevented a discussion as the House was repeatedly adjourned.
YSR Congress Party chief Y S Jaganmohan Reddy said the wave in favour of Narendra Modi played a role in his party's defeat in the Seemandhra region, where the Telugu Desam Party-Bharatiya Janata Party combine swept to power.
Vicky Nanjappa speaks to experts and points out six reasons behind the Congress's dismal show in Telangana, although at one point it was expected that the grand old party will be electorally rewarded after it passed the bill for the new state in Parliament.
Flaying the United Progressive Alliance government for its 'unilateral' decision on the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, Telugu Desam Party President N Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday said the Congress is not in a position to convince its members on the tumultuous issue of "equal justice" for people of Telangana as well as Seemandhra.
Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions continued to simmer over the proposed division of Andhra Pradesh as supporters of united Andhra Pradesh organised massive protests across the two regions.
Union Minister and Congress leader K Chiranjeevi on Saturday disapproved of his actor-brother Pawan Kalyan, who has launched a new political party, meeting Bharatiya Janata Partu's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.
South India is likely to give surprise verdict. Senior Delh-based journalist K G Suresh analyses if Modi matters
In a new low in India's parliamentary history, pepper spray was used in the Lok Sabha resulting in hospitalisation of three MPs following a ruckus over introduction of the Telangana bill after which 18 Seemandhra MPs were suspended
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 Kiran Kumar Reddy's defiance seems to be working well for the Congress in Seemandhra, a reason sufficient for party leaders to keep silent, though he has openly criticised them and staged a dharna at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi. B Dasarath Reddy reports
The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill was passed by a voice vote in Rajya Sabha amid unprecedented bedlam on Thursday night.
In order to stall the Telangana bill and urge the government to withdraw its decision, the YSR Congress of Jagan Mohan Reddy and Seemandhra government employees will protest in different parts of the city
The government on Thursday said it will go ahead with its decision to create Telangana despite protests in the Seemandhra region, but remained non-committal on imposition of the President's rule in Andhra Pradesh.
YSR Congress chief Jaganmohan Reddy, is on a blazing campaign trail, much to the delight of the adulating crowds. There is a Jagan wave, but will he make the cut, asks Vicky Nanjappa
The situation in Andhra Pradesh's Seemandhra region showed no signs of improvement, as the ongoing strike by 30,000 power sector employees against the bifurcation of the state entered Day 4 on Tuesday. The failure of the southern grid seems imminent.
The region remained powerless for a second day, as employees of the state's power generation, transmission and distribution companies stayed away from work, in protest.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam seems to be fighting back in Tamil Nadu ahead of the Lok Sabha elections with the party recording an eight per cent increase in its vote share in the past month, while Congress turns out to be Telangana's first choice at the Centre, according to a pre-poll survey.
The biggest ever show of strength by the supporters of Telangana state brought Hyderabad city to a grinding halt on Sunday. More than a lakh people from all across Telangana flooded Hyderabad as a befitting reply to the challenge of Telangana opponents that nobody can divide Andhra Pradesh or take away Hyderabad from the Seemandhra people.
Was some area in poll-bound Andhra Pradesh the real target of the two bombs that exploded in Chennai Central railway station early today?
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy in an interview with CNN-IBN said he will stay on as the chief minister and fight for a united Andhra.
The Telangana Rashtra Samithi would seek to befriend Prime Minister-elect Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government to forge a good and healthy relationship, and would not be confrontationist with the successor state of Andhra Pradesh but would fight tooth and nail for the rights of Telangana, a key party figure said on Monday.
'The man who decided that a multi-lingual Hyderabad should remain would not have been surprised that Telangana and Seemandhra could not live together as a united state.'
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India's fear of small states derives from memories of Partition and the paranoid view that it will break up under 'too many' states. It's time to shed such fears and bite the 'states' reorganisation' bullet. India won't crumble under a few more Telanganas, Vidarbhas or Gorkhalands, says Praful Bidwai.
Protesting against the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, Congress MP from Rayalseema region Rayapati Samba Siwaa Rao resigned from the primary membership of the party on Friday while heaping praise on Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.
A bill to allow merging of some villages and mandals of Telangana with Seemandhra in a bid to deal with resettlement and rehabilitation those displaced by the Polavaram power project was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday amid din.
The deteriorating law and order situation in Hyderabad has prompted a worried Union government to consider temporarily bringing the city under its control.
Agitating against the decision to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh, Samaikyandhra supporters on Tuesday continued with their week-long protests across coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions.
With the exit polls projecting a majority for the BJP-led NDA, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday took potshots at the ruling party, saying it will now find a scapegoat in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in its attempt to save Sonia and Rahul Gandhi from criticism.
After weeks of bargaining, discussing and protesting, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Telugu Desam Party came to a seat-sharing arrangement for the May 7 polls in Andhra Pradesh on Sunday. But will this combine be able to achieve the same feat it did in 1999, asks Vicky Nanjappa.
Lashing out at "rootless wonders and spineless creepers" for his party's plight, senior Congress leader Kishore Chandra Deo has said that the Congress would not have come to such a pass if Rahul Gandhi had ensured implementation of half the promises made after he became vice president.
Telugu Desam Party chief N Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday met President Pranab Mukherjee and leaders of political parties in an attempt to find an amicable solution to the problem of division in New Delhi Andhra Pradesh and creation of Telangana state.
Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar rejected the resignations submitted by 13 MPs from Andhra Pradesh, including ten from Congress and two of YSR Congress, against the decision on Telangana, holding these were "not voluntary or genuine". The YSR Congress MPs included party chief Y S Jaganmohan Reddy.
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