The government rejected the contention on Friday that it has developed any second thoughts on the issue of Telangana, saying that the process with regard to its creation is underway and won't be affected by assembly elections in five states.
President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday gave seven more days to the Andhra Pradesh assembly till January 30 to discuss and debate the draft Telangana Bill in the House before returning it to the Centre.
The demand for removal of Justice A K Ganguly, accused of harassing a law intern, from the post of Chairman of West Bengal Human Rights Commission, along with Telangana issue paralysed the functioning of Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
Telangana Rashtra Samiti supremo K Chandrashekhar Rao said that he will go on a hunger strike from February if until then the bill to form a separate Telangana state is not introduced in the Parliament. Rao's decision came at the Joint Action Committee meeting held in Hyderabad on Thursday night, hours after the Srikrishna Commission was made public.
Union Home Secretary Anil Goswami is to preside over a meeting in the North Block on Thursday with seven secretaries to discuss about the formation of Telangana.
Union Minister of State for Steel and Mines A Sai Pratap on Monday said it is not that easy to move a bill for a separate Telangana state in Parliament.
Andhra Pradesh Infrastructure and Investment Minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy resigned from the cabinet as well as the state assembly on Saturday evening. Komatireddy, who had set September 30 as the deadline for the Centre to come out with a statement on the creation of Telangana state, met Governor E S L Narasimhan and submitted his resignation from the Kiran Kumar Reddy-led state government.
While Seemandhra simmers with pent-up rage over the division of Andhra Pradesh, supporters of Telangana have started celebrating the fulfilment of their long-cherished dream.
The incident took place on the second day of the 48 hour-long shutdown call given by the Telangana Joint Action Committee.
Andhra Pradesh ministers from the Telangana region, who have sent their resignation letters to Sonia Gandhi, arrived in New Delhi on Sunday to hold consultations with top leaders, and demanded that the government come out with a "time-bound programme" for the creation of a separate state.
Amidst an uproar over creation of Telangana, the government on Monday told Parliament that a Cabinet note is being prepared to go into substantive and procedural issues concerning formation of the new state.
The Group of Ministers on Telangana is set to discuss the draft bill for the creation of Telangana on Saturday.
Despite the Centre's announcement that it will initiate the process of formation of Telengana, it may take one to two years to carve out a separate state, considering the logistics required for a new administration. Home Ministry officials said a mammoth exercise will be required -- both at the Central as well as the state levels -- to put things together for creation of the new state.
"The government has made a U-turn. There is no divide among political parties. My party is not divided and we are very clear that the state of Telangana should be formed," BJP spokesman Prakash Javedakar said.
Creation of the new Telangana state will take close to six months that involve a number of steps, including adoption of state Re-organisation bill by Parliament by a simple majority.
A large number of students of Osmania University boycotted their post-fraduate semester examinations which began in Hyderabad on Wednesday, demanding that the government should introduce a bill in the Parliament for creation of Telangana state.
A draw of lots was held on Friday to allot Rajya Sabha members to Telangana and residual Andhra Pradesh following division of the state.
The Andhra Pradesh Cabinet sub-committee on employees has decided to invite the Telangana Employees Joint Action Committee for talks on August 5 to resolve their pending grievances and avert a strike.
The Telegu Desam Party, which had threatened to resign en masse from the state assembly unless the Centre initiated proceedings for the creation of a separate Telangana state, has decided to play it safe. TDP Members of Legislative Assembly from the Telangana region have decided to resign from the assembly only if Congress MLAs from the region do so first.This decision by the TDP has put the pro-Telangana movement on the back-foot.
Two crucial issues will be discussed at the all party meet convened by the Centre to discuss the Telangana crisis on January 5 -- the future status of Hyderabad and introducing a resolution on the creation of a separate state in the Andhra Pradesh assembly.The Centre has already prepared its replies to queries related to these two points, in case they are raised by the Telangana Rashtra Samiti or the Bharatiya Janata Party, during the meeting.
"The issue is not pertaining only to Andhra Pradesh now. It is for the government of India to show us a way to resolve the crisis and help restore normalcy," he told a press conference in Hyderabad, a week after Home Minister P Chidambaram's statement favouring the creation of Telangana.
The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha Thursday asked the government to consider its demand for a Gorkhaland state if it takes into consideration creation of a separate Telangana.
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.
Bharatiya Janata Party member Prakash Javadekar seemed most upset with Friday's Rajya Sabha adjournment as his resolution on creation of a separate Telangana state was on top of the private members' business listed for the afternoon session.
The government is treading cautiously on the issue of separate statehood for Telangana as it will have repercussions not only in Andhra Pradesh but also in some other states, Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said on Friday.
A decision on the vexed issue of Telangana is expected before Monsoon session of Parliament which is likely to start after August 15.
The Lok Sabha was rocked for the fourth consecutive day today by the Telangana issue, with members in favour of the separate state and those opposing it disrupting the proceedings.
The thumping electoral victory the Congress had dreamt about is now a distant reality, says Vicky Nanjappa
Holding that there are severe shortcomings in the current form of Telangana Bill, Union minister M Pallam Raju on Tuesday said it should not be passed in a manner that sends a wrong message and permanently hurt sentiments.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former president M Venkiah Naidu on Thursday welcomed the Centre's decision to move a resolution for the creation of Telangana state in the Andhra Pradesh assembly, saying smaller states could be better administered.He added that the demand for Harit Pradesh in western Uttar Pradesha, raised by Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Chaudhary Ajit Singh, and Gorkhaland in West Bengal raised by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, will be strengthened.
At places in the border districts of Barmer and Jaisalmer, people walked miles through the desert to cast their votes.
Notwithstanding Andhra Pradesh assembly's rejection of Telangana bill, a Group of Ministers on Tuesday cleared the draft legislation to be placed before the Union Cabinet on Thursday to pave the way for its tabling in Parliament.
During the all-party meeting on December 7, there had been a consensus over Telangana. On that basis, on December 9, the Centre had in principle decided to create a new state. However, today, the situation in Andhra Pradesh has altered. The parties involved have a difference in opinion. There is a need for more consultations for a consensus to emerge on the issue, Chidambaram said.
Proceedings in both the houses of the Parliament were disrupted on Wednesday with the entire opposition creating uproar over price rise, while the Telugu Desam Party members protested against the creation of Telangana state.
Finance Minister and Congress trouble-shooter Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday took command of the consultations with Andhra Pradesh leaders to prepare the ground for the creation of Telangana, even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh decided against imposing President's rule in the troubled state after holding talks with Governor E S L Narasimhan. Assisting Mukherjee in the consultations are Petroleum Minister S Jaipal Reddy and members of a core committee.
The Centre's efforts to initiate process of laying a roadmap for creation of Telangana failed with six political parties disagreeing to the Home Minister P Chidambaram's perspective.
President Pranab Mukherjee, a stickler of rules, will give the Andhra assembly six weeks (up to January 23) to respond to the draft bill on Telangana
The GoM, set up to look into the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, will meet separately eight political parties of Andhra Pradesh on November 12 and 13 and union ministers from the state on November 18 to discuss various issues related to the creation of Telangana.
With the Congress top brass in New Delhi likely to take a final call on Friday on the vexed Telangana issue, the development has sparked a flurry of activities in the Andhra Pradesh capital.
A day after Parliament gave its nod to Telangana to become the 29th state, Mamata Banerjee on Friday attacked the "Congress-BJP syndicate" for clearing the bill to serve their respective political agendas describing the "unholy nexus" as an "alarming signal" for the country.
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