The bandh called by the Telangana Rashtra Samiti, the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Telangana Joint Action Committee and several other organisations brought normal life in the region to a grinding halt on Saturday. The bandh was called to protest Friday's firing on pro-Telangana activists who tried to stop the visit of Congress Member of Parliament from Kadapa YS Jaganmohan Reddy to Warangal district. Nearly five hundred pro-Telangana activists were arrested.
Two groups -- one for a separate state of Telangana and the other for a united Andhra Pradesh -- are holding meetings in New Delhi and Lucknow to urge the government to rule in its favour. Vicky Nanjappa reports
The Centre may have set up a five-member committee on Telangana, but students who have been most vocal in their demand for a state feel the panel should only deal with select issues and not about the formation of the state.
The Joint Action Committee formed to spearhead the agitation for a separate Telangana, has removed the Telugu Desam Party from the body, saying it had gone against the committee's cause.
The Telangana Joint Action Committee and the Telangana Rashtra Samiti organised a massive rally in Hyderabad making a fervent appeal to the people of the region not to resort to suicides. Mohammed Siddique reports.
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.
Widespread protests, demonstrations, road blockades and rallies were held in several Telangana districts while Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC) activists allegedly attacked Civil Supplies Department's godown and burnt vehicles in Mahabubnagar district.
Even as JAC, comprising the Telangana Rashtra Samiti, Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party and other people's organisations met in Hyderabad to chalk out the future course of action, TDP President N Chandrababu Naidu lashed out at TRS holding it responsible for Thursday's attack on his senior party colleague N Janardhan Reddy.
There is a proposal from the BJP camp that they would resort to a proportion-based increase in the number of Lok Sabha seats for individual states, based on what they now have. On the face of it, this sounds like a fine argument that those demanding a 'freeze' now cannot oppose without reasons and justification, avers N Sathiya Moorthy.
In fact, the students have given a call to the people to stop the ministers from entering their villages.
Hyderabad is getting ready for yet another show of strength by the supporters of a separate Telangana state. Lakhs of people are expected to respond to a call given by the Telangana Joint Action Committee to attend the Sagara Haaram March on Sunday afternoon.
Pressuring the legislators and Members of Parliament of Telangana region to resign in support of separate state, the Telangana Joint Action Committee on Friday assured all such representatives that they will be re-elected to their respective positions unanimously.
Andhra Pradesh's 57th formation day is being observed as a black day by the people of Telangana, who have been demanding a separate state. Black flags have been hoisted over all government offices in the Telangana region.
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.
Is the Telangana Joint Action Committee, formed to take the separate Telangana movement forward, heading for a split? The resignation issue has upset a majority of the Congress leaders, who are part of the Telangana JAC, and they have threatened to pull out of it.
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.
Andhra Pradesh was paralysed by yet another bandh on Wednesday, as rival organisations called for strike in Telangana and Andhra-Rayalseema regions on the issue of their share in government jobs in Hyderabad.
The latest statement by Union Home Minister P Chidambaram that the Centre would constitute a committee next week to examine the demand for Telangana state has left the all-party Joint Action Committee divided, with only Congress leaders from the region welcoming it.
Dr Sangam Prithviraj, who leads the students at the Osmania University in Hyderabad, says that they were foolish to trust TRS chief K Chandrashekhar Rao and that now all students in all the 10 districts of Telangana will take the movement forward themselves.
Demanding that Centre make an announcement of formation of Telangana state by June 25, the Telangana political Joint Action Committee on Thursday said the members of Parliament and members of legislative assembly of the ruling Congress and opposition Telugu Desam Party should resign if this did not happen.
Unwilling to accept Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's assurances, activists battling for a separate Telangana state have intensified their protests.
All Party Telangana Joint Action Committee has set the deadline of Monday evening for all the Members of Andhra Pradesh assembly of Telangana region to submit their resignations and quit the assembly in protest against the Srikrishna committee.
In a bid to intensify their protest seeking statehood status for Telangana, the members of the Telangana Rastriya Samithi and the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday picketed the offices of all the district collectors. Members of both the parties came out in huge numbers and gheraoed the offices of the district collector and also shouted slogans in favour of a separate state.
The Telangana Joint Action Committee, comprising of all political parties and a large number of people's organisations has set a deadline of January 28 for the central government to announce a time-bound program for the formation of Telangana state.
The row kicked up by the ministers of Andhra and Rayala Seema region, who called agitators demanding a separate Telangana state 'anti-national and seditious', intensified on Thursday with pro-Telangana leaders urging the state governor to dismiss these ministers from the cabinet. A delegation of Telangana Rashtra Samiti and Telangana Joint Action Committee, headed by K Chandrasekhara Rao and Professor Kodanda Ram, met Governor ESL Narasimhan at Raj Bhavan.
The Joint Action Committee on Telangana has decided to continue its protest at the Jantar Mantar in New Delhi and also meet President Pratibha Patil.
Ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Hyderabad on Tueday, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi and Telangana Joint Action Committee leaders launched a stir over the Telangana statehood demand.
Dr Sangam Prithviraj Yadav, chief of the Students' Joint Action Committee for the Telangana movement, claims that the Telangana Rashtra Samiti, which has been at the forefront of the movement, is actually delaying the creation of a new state. In an interview with rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa, he explains why.
The violence during the Million March protest in Hyderabad on Thursday seems to have caused considerable confusion in the ranks of the Telangana movement leaders.
The announcement of creation of a separate state of Telangana was welcomed with jubilant celebration on Tuesday.
The Osmania University Joint Action Committee for Telangana has set July 10 as deadline for the United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre to announce the formation of the Telangana state.
The Osmania University Joint Action Committee on Telangana on Tuesday appealed to political parties in Andhra Pradesh to field relatives of people who died during the agitation for a separate state when the by-elections are held in over ten constituencies in the state.Manavat Rai, a member of the OU Joint Action Committee, said the parties should field relatives of the people, especially students, who have 'sacrificed their lives for the cause of a separate state'.
A Joint Action Committee formed to address the Telangana issue decided on Wednesday night not to resort to bundhs, which affect public life.
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 Telangana Joint Action Committee which was to complete their protest march at 7 pm on Sunday decided to stay put on Necklace Road in Hyderabad until there was a decision on separate statehood.
Normal life was affected on Friday in the Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh following the day-long bandh called by the Telangana political Joint Action Committee.
A group of persons, claiming to be members of Osmania University Joint Action Committee, on Sunday vandalised flower pots and other things at the residence of top Telugu actor Allu Arjun in Hyderabad.
With no decision on the Telangana issue yet, activists fighting for separate state have decided to take a more aggressive stand.
In a bid to carry forward the momentum created by the resignations of Telangana MLAs and MPs, the Telangana Joint Action Committee has called for a 48-hour strike in the region from Tuesday.
At a meeting in Hyderabad on Monday afternoon, pro-Telangana activists decided to impose a ban on all national TV channels with immediate effect in the region. These activists believe that these channels have downplayed their agitation for a separate state. The students Joint Action Committee had informed cable operators in the Telangana region about the proposed step. The operators have decided to issue a circular across entire Telangana region.