The Congress is likely to make the Telangana issue a part of its manifesto in the forthcoming elections, reports Vicky Nanjappa
Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu on Friday launched an indefinite hunger strike demanding that the state and the central government immediately provide succour to hapless farmers and artisans who have faced the brunt of nature's fury in the last one year. The former Andhra Pradesh chief minister expressed serious displeasure over the relief measures announced by Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and demanded higher compensation.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Tuesday left for Delhi, where he is expected to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi and possibly discuss an expansion of his cabinet and Telangana, among other issues. There has been speculation that the chief minister would induct only two legislators of erstwhile Praja Rajyam Party into his cabinet. It is speculated that the cabinet re-jig may take place anytime between January 21 and 28.
Congress leaders from Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh have become hyperactive ahead of the December 9 deadline they have set for the high command even as Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy has been called to New Delhi later this week.
In a freewheeling interview to rediff.com's Mohammed Siddique, Owaisi explains what went wrong between the Congress and the MIM and lays out his future plans.
The 42-day-long strike by the government employees of Telangana region was withdrawn on Monday evening. About 45,000 employees, who had gone on an indefinite strike on September 13 in support of Telangana state, will be returning to work from Tuesday morning.
Congress members of Parliament from Telangana region on Thursday attacked Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy accusing him of adopting an "uncalled for vindictive attitude" towards the people agitating for a separate state.
Andhra Pradesh roads and buildings minister Dharmana Prasada Rao, who resigned after his name figured in a Central Bureau of Investigation chargesheet in a corruption case, on Sunday expressed confidence that he would come out clean.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Monday ruled out passing a resolution in the assembly seeking creation of separate Telangana and asserted that no one could force the Centre to take a decision on the bifurcation of the state.
It was supposed to be a momentous day for the ruling Congress in Andhra Pradesh with formalities related to the merger of Praja Rajyam Party getting completed on Monday.
More trouble seems to be in store for Andhra Pradesh next week as the state government and the employees of Telangana region are heading towards a clash over an indefinite strike in support of a separate state. While the N Kiran Kumar Reddy government is planning to invoke the Essential Services Maintenance Act to foil the strike, employees from Andhra and Rayalseema have volunteered to work during the strike.
At least 32 devotees were killed and more than 20 injured, some of them seriously, when their bus fell off a bridge in Osmanabad district of Maharashtra in the wee hours on Saturday.
The MLAs -- 10 from the Telangana Rashtra Samiti, 2 from Congress, one each from Bharatiya Janata Party, Telugu Desam Party and Praja Rajyam -- met Speaker N Kiran Kumar Reddy in Hyderabad and submitted their resignation. The legislators said they resigned in order to mount pressure on the Centre to take immediate steps for formation of a separate state.
Andhra Pradesh Governor E S L Narasimhan took oath of office for a second term in the gubernatorial post on Thursday.
Ruling Congress and main Opposition Telugu Desam Party are set to crack the whip on "rebel" MLAs, who voted in favour of the no-confidence motion against the Kiran Kumar Reddy government in Andhra Pradesh late Friday night.
Eighty-two Members of Andhra Pradesh assembly from Telangana region, belonging to five political parties, including ruling Congress and main Opposition Telugu Desam Party, on Thursday decided to resign in protest against the Centre putting the statehood issue on the backburner.
In a relief for the ruling Congress in Andhra Pradesh, party members of legislative assembly from Telangana region on Monday ended their boycott of the ongoing budget session over the raging Telangana issue. The decision came following a meeting they had with Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and state Congress president D Srinivas in the assembly buildings.
In the game of one-upmanship, Telugu Desam Party legislators from Andhra and Rayalaseema have decided to pressurise the Speaker Kiran Kumar Reddy to accept their pending resignations.
The Andhra Pradesh legislative assembly was adjourned on Tuesday with out transacting any business as members of Telangana Rashtra Samiti stalled the proceedings demanding that the House should adopt a resolution on formation of a spereate Telangana state.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Friday said the Centre would take a decision on the contentious statehood issue only after the eight recognised political parties in the state expressed their views on it.
The tumult in the ruling Congress in Andhra Pradesh in the aftermath of the rout in the assembly bypolls continued on Friday, with some party leaders blaming Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy for the poor showing.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy's opposition to the formation of Telangana is no secret. During his deliberations with the Congress high command in New Delhi on Tuesday, he had made it clear that he was not in favor of the formation of Telangana, and he is capable of handling the situation in the wake of pro-Telangana protests. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
The Andhra Pradesh government has for the first time admitted that suspecting Muslims in Mecca Masjid blast case was a mistake as the terror attack was handiwork of 'Hindu militants'. It has also promised to extend financial assistance to the Muslim youth who were falsely implicated in the case.
Serious trouble is brewing in the ruling Congress party against Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy as a fall out of the ongoing probe by the Anti-Corruption Bureau in the alleged nexus between some ministers and the powerful liquor cartels across the state.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Sunday night appealed to ruling Congress Members of Parliament from Telangana not to undertake their proposed fast on Monday for withdrawal of police cases against students, but the Parliamentarians rejected the request. "If the government withdraws the police cases against students by evening, it is fine. Otherwise, Telangana Congress MPs would go on fast from Monday. It is a Gandhian fast," said K Keshav Rao.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Thursday said law would take its own course in Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen legislator Akbaruddin Owaisi's case wherein he was alleged to have made a 'hate speech' against a particular community at a public meeting in Adilabad district a few days ago.
A new government has emerged in Andhra Pradesh with the induction of two legislators of the Praja Rajyam Party into the N Kiran Kumar Reddy Cabinet in Hyderabad on Thursday. State Governor E S L Narasimhan administered the oath of office and secrecy to Ganta Srinivasa Rao, a member of the legislative assembly, and C Ramachandraiah, a member of the legislative council, at a brief function in the Raj Bhavan.
The Congress' top leadership decided to rally firmly behind the Kiran Kumar Reddy government in Andhra Pradesh as the party prepares to face the Telangana issue after an official committee submits its report on the statehood issue by this month-end.
The no-confidence motion moved by the opposition Telugu Desam against the N Kiran Kumar Reddy-led Congress government in Andhra Pradesh is by no means of only academic interest. Though the government is unlikely to fall -- as the numerical strength of the ruling and opposition parties suggest -- the outcome of the division on the motion is likely to have a far reaching impact on the politics of the state.
After a massive show of strength on Sunday, the Telangana Joint Action Committee has called off its agitation, laying the emphasis on the Andhra Pradesh government to take the matter forward.
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.
Vicky Nanjappa reports on the dilemma that the Andhra Pradesh government headed by Kiran Kumar Reddy faces in the wake of Congress legislators from Telangana deciding to quit their seats to press for a separate state.
Andhra Pradesh Endowment Minister J Krishna Rao has resigned from the state cabinet in protest against the delay in the formation of Telagnana state.
The Andhra Pradesh assembly has been adjourned sine die following pandemonium over the Telangana issue.
The appeal was made by Speaker N Kiran Kumar Reddy after TRS members forced the House's adjournment twice in the morning demanding the immediate passing of a resolution in support of Telangana
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy's efforts to placate the Congress MLAs from Telangana to give up their agitation, as the Centre would make an announcement on the issue in the first week of March, failed to yield any positive result.
The Andhra Pradesh Congress has managed to put off the Telangana issue for a while following the Srikrishna Commission report. For the first time, legislators from the Andhra assembly misbehaved with each other at the start of the budget session.
Government officials said the company was likely to invest about Rs 2,000 crore during the first phase of the project. In all, it could be Rs 7,000-10,000 crore.
After the lifting of all the 1,667 cases booked against the participants of agitations in support and against the formation of a separate Telangana state, the Andhra Pradesh government was now seriously considering the demand for withdrawing the cases booked against the Muslim youth in Hyderabad and other places in the state.
The Kiran Kumar Reddy-led Congress government has defeated a no-confidence motion moved against it by the Telugu Desam Party by a margin of 38 votes after a marathon 16-hour debate in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly.