In an 85-page note to the Group of Ministers set up to look into the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, Chief Minister Kiran Reddy on Monday raised 36 crucial points why a separate state of Telangana is not desirable.
Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu is keeping everyone guessing about whether he plans to join hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance for the forthcoming Parliamentary polls.
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.
The much anticipated Telangana Bill was not taken up in the Rajya Sabha, which witnessed high drama and repeated adjournments throughout Wednesday.
Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Tuesday ruled out the possibility of imposing President's Rule in Andhra Pradesh in the wake of widespread protests in Seemandhra region against the decision to create Telangana.
As the Congress prepares to replace Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy, the Union Cabinet will study the home ministry's note on creating Telangana, reports Vicky Nanjappa.
Turmoil over Telangana statehood and a variety of other issues paralysed proceedings in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday prompting a comment from the Chair that he was "disturbed" and "disappointed" over lack of consensus to run the House.
Amid the increasing pressure on the Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy from the Central government either to end the crisis arising out of the indefinite strike of government employees or face the axe, crucial talks were scheduled to take place between the chief minister and the leaders of the Andhra Prasdesh Non Gazetted Officers Association on Wednesday.
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.
Telangana Rashtra Samithi President K Chandrasekhar Rao on Sunday voiced his opposition to any proposal making Hyderabad a permanent joint capital of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh or a Union Territory.
With the Congress leadership reportedly inching towards a favourable decision on Telangana statehood demand, a party member of Legislative Assembly and several YSR Congress legislators from non-Telangana regions on Thursday said they have "resigned" in support of united Andhra Pradesh.
With almost 300 seats to the Lok Sabha being dominated by regional outfits, the Congress has added to the list by giving space to more regional forces in the Seema-Andhra and Telangana regions, says Saroj Nagi.
The Congress has almost decided to accept the demand for a separate state of Telangana but is still to work out the nitty-gritty of Andhra Pradesh's bifurcation.
Alleging that ruling Congress is "not serious" about bringing Lokpal Bill, the Bharatiya Janata Party has said that the United Progressive Alliance government could have brought the anti-graft legislation long ago as there was consensus over the issue.
The Bharatiya Janata Party feels it has more to lose if it gets into an alliance with the Telugu Desam Party in Seema-Andhra. Vicky Nanjappa reports
YSR Congress chief Jagan Mohan Reddy is in New Delhi to protest the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. He tells Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa that he is in New Delhi to show the strength of the Telugu people to Sonia Gandhi.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who was instrumental in developing Hyderabad as a key information technology services destination in the country, is now embarking upon a mission to establish the state as an electronics manufacturing hub.
Vishwa Hindu Parishad's controversial Ayodhya yatra rocked Parliament on Monday with both Houses being disrupted repeatedly due to clashes between Samajwadi Party and Bharatiya Janata Party as demands were made for dismissal of the Uttar Pradesh government.
Legislators from the Andhra-Seema belt say that Kiran Kumar Reddy ready knew about the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh since December. Vicky Nanjappa reports
The four names that are in the fray from the Congress are Jaipal Reddy, K Chandrasekara Rao, Damodar Raja Narasimha and D Srinivas.
Lagadapati Rajagopal, now being referred to as the 'pepper spray member of Parliament', is holding talks with Andhra Pradesh's caretaker Chief Minister Nallari Kiran Kumar Reddy about floating a new political party.
While an embarrassed government is using technical procedures to ensure that the no-confidence motion does not come up for discussion, the Seemandhra MPs are struggling to get the required support for it. Anita Katyal reports.
In a big shot in the arm for the YSR Congress party in Andhra Pradesh, a Central Bureau of Investigation court in Hyderabad on Monday granted conditional bail to its president and Member of Lok Sabha YS Jaganmohan Reddy in disproportionate assets case.
Over 6,000 people are feared to have been killed in the devastating floods, cloudbursts and landslides in Uttarakhand in June, the government said on Tuesday.
In the clearest indication that the Congress leadership is moving towards the formation of a separate state of Telangana, the party organised a massive show of strength in Hyderabad on Sunday giving a clarion call in favour of the new state.
'The feeling in Telangana is that without her a separate state cannot be created... All the MPs and MLAs from Seema-Andhra have a business background. Their interest is to save their business,' Congress MP K Raj Gopal Reddy, who played a key role in Thursday's turbulent events, tells Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt.
The Group of Minister, set up to look into the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, is all set to recommend special status to both the states under Article 371-D of the Constitution and examining a proposal to include two districts of Rayalseema in Telangana.
Uproar over the killing of five Indian soldiers on the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir by Pakistani troops on Tuesday led to adjournment of Parliament until noon.
Aditi Phadnis and Archis Mohan take a state by state takedown of the party's chances in the poll-bound states.
Vicky Nanjappa speaks to suspended Congree MP from Seema-Andhra, Lagadapati Rajagopal, who created a major stir earlier on Thursday by using pepper spray inside the Parliament, continues to be cheered for in his constituency. The leader, however, says that the media is twisting the real facts regarding the incident, and hopes that Congress will stall the Telangana bill.
Although the Congress leadership and UPA has given its nod for Telangana, the road to the separate state is surely going to be a complicated one, reports Anita Katyal.
The first day of the monsoon session of Parliament was marred by uproarious scenes over the decision to form Telangana even as the government said substantive and procedural issues related to the new state would be dealt with in a Cabinet note being prepared.
Prime minister Manmohan Singh and several Congress leaders are against the formation of a separate state but are supporting the decision in the hope that it would win the party seats in the region. Renu Mittal reports
A crucial meeting of the Congress Core Group on Friday will discuss the Telangana issue with "both options open" as a decision "cannot be postponed anymore", said senior party leader Digvijay Singh.
As he took oath of office on Sunday night, Nara Chandrababu Naidu has earned a unique distinction of becoming the first chief minister of a new state in addition to being the longest-serving CM of Andhra Pradesh.
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.
Proceedings in Parliament were washed out for the second consecutive working on Tuesday as Opposition members created pandemonium on a host of issues including JPC report on 2G, Telangana, price rise and death of children in relief camps for Muzaffarnagar (Uttar Pradesh) riot victims.
'I am disappointed by all political parties; they have all let down the people of Andhra Pradesh,' TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu tells Rediff.com's Anita Katyal
While the United Progressive Alliance government is preparing to ignore the protests from anti-Telangana members of Parliament and push through the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill in Parliament on Tuesday, the Congress' grim internal assessment is that the move may not pay the requisite electoral dividends which it had originally hoped for, says Anita Katyal