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.
Congress Members of Parliament and members of Legislative Assembly from Telangana on Monday slammed Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and accused him of weakening the party in the region that is witnessing an agitation for statehood. The MPs also condemned the "repressive measures" against Telangana protagonists and alleged that the chief minister's actions were "provoking" people of the region.
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.
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.
Andhra Pradesh Governor E S L Narasimhan took oath of office for a second term in the gubernatorial post on Thursday.
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.
With Kiran Kumar Reddy adamant that he will step down as the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh after the announcement on Telangana is made, the Congress is exploring the option of bringing Konijeti Rosaiah, the former CM back to the state to head the government. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
The 42-day-long strike by the government employees of Telangana region was withdrawn on Monday evening.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.
The focal point of the Telangana issue has shifted to Delhi with the arrival of Andhra Pradesh Governor ESL Narasimhan and Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy in the capital on Wednesday.
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.
Announcing the results, Director of IIT Kanpur Prof Sanjay Govind Dhande said that IIT Madras zone aspirant Immadi Purudhavi Tej topped the prestigious examination followed by Shubham Mehta of IIT Bombay zone who got the second rank.
Ministers, legislators and Members of Legislative Council are understood to have raised a virtual rebellion against Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, protesting his unilateral style of functioning.
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.
Several senior leaders and dignitaries including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi visited Puttaparthi on Wednesday to pay their last respects to Sathya Sai Baba.
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.
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.
Torrential rains and resultant deluge in 16 districts of Andhra Pradesh last week left 53 persons dead and caused a loss of Rs 3,756 crore, but the situation is returning to normal with floodwater receding.
The next few days would, however, not witness much protests in the Telangana region.
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.
The transaction is expected to close in the next 30 days and the merger process is expected to be completed in next 9-12 months
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.
Around four lakh people who attended the event were treated to a spectacular flying display of fighter, civilian aircraft and helicopters.
The five-day long electricity crisis in the Seema-Andhra region would come to an end, after the employee's union agreed to call off their strike on Thursday.
As protests continues over the Telangana decision, the Congress is making attempts to pacify the leaders from the Seema-Andhra region by setting up a high-level committee headed by A K Antony to talk to them.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress on Sunday were set to share the honours in the Lok Sabha and assembly bye-elections in 13 states.
While normal life remained paralaysed in Andhra and Rayalseema region for the second consecutive day on Thursday over the Centre's decision to create a separate state of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh appeared to be hurtling towards a deeper political crisis.
The aircraft (Airbus A-320 model) belonging to Air India was being transported by road from Begumpet airport to Central Training Establishment at Ferozguda in Balanagar when the crane bars got bent down and the aircraft suddenly fell on a nearby compound wall.
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.
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.
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.
As TDP maintains a distance from the BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the saffron party may get a new alliance partner in the form of Telangana Rashtra Samiti. Vicky Nanjappa reports on the changing political scenarios in the newly-formed regions of Telangana and Seema-Andhra in this election season.
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.
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.
The YSR Congress on Tuesday told Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar that it is against tabling the Andhra Pradesh Re-Organisation Bill 2013 in Parliament.
Bhanu Kiran, prime suspect in the killing of Maddelacheruvu Suryanarayana Reddy alias Suri, who continued to evade the police might have fled out of Andhra Pradesh, a top police official said on Friday.
Andhra Pradesh Endowment Minister J Krishna Rao has resigned from the state cabinet in protest against the delay in the formation of Telagnana state.
Even as the top leadership of the Congress party in New Delhi was busy in confabulations to find a way out of the mess in Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh, its state government seems to be inching for a confrontation with the agitators.
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.
The battle for a separate Telangana state has turned worse with the Andhra Pradesh government making it clear that it will do everything under the sun to restore normalcy but not yield to protestors' demands under pressure.