Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said the Centre would soon form a committee which would adopt all possible ways for empowering Madigas (a SC community) with regard to their demand of categorisation of Scheduled Castes.
'Many veteran leaders in the Odisha BJP had met them, but their problems were never sorted out.'
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Saturday rejected suggestions that his government had been reduced to a minority after the opposition's no-confidence motion yesterday saw 142 members voting against it, two short of the simple majority mark.
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.
In a telephonic message to reporters late Wednesday night, Rao, popularly known as KCR, recalled that they had termed the all-party meeting convened by the union home minister on December 28 as a "futile exercise".
Unhappy with the outcome of the meeting convened by the Centre on the Telangana issue, Telangana Rashtra Samiti chief K Chandrashekar Rao on Friday termed it as a futile exercise. The party also called for a Telangana bandh on Saturday to protest against the government's attitude towards the demand for a separate state.
With a significant number of Opposition leaders present at the swearing-in ceremony of the Congress government in Karnataka, Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Sunday said Opposition unity requires much more than optics of this nature and stressed the need for meeting of minds, a common agenda and sacrificing partisan interests.
At least ten people, including a journalist, were injured in clashes between supporters of Telugu Desam Party and Telangana Rashtra Samiti in Warangal district on Friday. The violence broke out when pro-Telangana demonstrators tried to block the convoy of Telugu Desam president N Chandrababu Naidu while it was entering Warangal district at Janagaon on Friday morning.
Debunking the claim of Telangana Rashtra Samiti president K Chandrasekhar Rao that decision on the creation of Telangana state would be announced by the Centre by Dussehra, Union Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Friday said a decision will be taken only after arriving at a 'consensus'.
Jopalli Krishna Rao, Dr Rajaiah and S Sathyanarayana tendered their resignations to Andhra Pradesh Congress chief B Sathyanarayana.
In an interview with rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa, Keshav explains his stand on the issue and says that the best way to solve the problem is to educate the people of Telangana about the benefits they would have if they remained in Andhra Pradesh.
While Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has made his national ambitions amply clear, even rechristening his party to aid the process, his Tamil Nadu counterpart M K Stalin insists he is already in the national scene and used his birthday rally on March 1 to not only strongly pitch for the Congress as a force to reckon with in the efforts to dislodge the Narendra Modi-led dispensation at the Centre, but also sought to shoot down the prospects of a Third Front.
Concerned over the continuing suicides by the students and youth for the Telangana cause, activists observed Wednesday as 'anti-suicide day' by administering a pledge to the students not to end their lives but to work hard to achieve 'Telangana'.
Telangana Rashtra Samiti Member of Parliament and film actress Vijayasanthi and Congress Member of Legislative Assembly T Jayaprakash were on Saturday arrested on charges of making inflammatory remarks. Vijayasanthi, 44, was later produced before the Additional Metropolitan Magistrate at Nampally, who sent her to 14 days judicial remand. Later, she was shifted to the Mahila Chandhalguda jail.
The Congress in Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh seems to be heading for a major setback, as at least three of the party members of Parliament have dropped clear indications that they were planning to quit the party and joint the Telangana Rashtra Samiti. Mohammed Siddique reports.
The high-level committee on 'one nation, one election' approached 62 parties out which 47 responded -- 32 in support of holding elections simultaneously, 15 against it.
Telangana Rashtra Samiti and YSR Congress Party on Thursday gave separate notices in the Legislative Assembly for a no-confidence motion against ruling Congress government in Andhra Pradesh.
The Telangana Rashtra Samithi is all set to move a No-Confidence Motion against the ruling Congress government in Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday.
Even as calls for intensifying the stir for a separate Telangana echoed a day after Centre deferred a decision on granting statehood, all eyes are now on Telangana Rashtra Samiti chief K Chandrashekhar Rao who on Monday evening is expected to chalk out the road map for the agitation in the days to come.
In a clear message that the people of Telangana want a separate state, both the Congress and Telugu Desam Party were rejected by the electorate in the region, reports Mohammed Siddique
Telangana supporters on Tuesday protested and burnt an effigy of Kanchi Sankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati for his comments disfavouring the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, following which the seer said his remarks had been 'distorted'.Students and leaders from Telangana, cutting across party lines, condemned the pontiff's remark. Telangana Rashtra Samiti leaders burnt his effigy outside a temple run by the Kanchi Peetham at Skandagiri in Secunderabad.
Telangana Rashtra Samiti president K Chandrasekhar Rao has described the 'secret report' of the Srikrishna committee as shameful and demanded that it should be made public immediately.
Earlier, TRS and TDP MLAs disrupted Governor ESL Narasimhan's speech on the opening day of the assembly's Budget session. They tried to tear his speech copy and climbed on the podium.
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.
Telangana region -- Hyderabad and nine other districts -- remained tense on Wednesday night with fresh protests erupting near Osmania University as Pro-Telangana agitators pelted stones on buses and demonstrations broke out in different towns.
More than 30 legislators of Telangana region belonging to the TRS, Congress, Telugu Desam Party and Praja Rajyam Party have announced their resignation.
Tension is on the rise in Warangal district of Andhra Pradesh as the police have rounded up more than 2,000 Telangana state supporters fearing violence during the visit of Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy, Congress leader Uttam Kumar Reddy, CPI-M state secretary B Raghavalu, PRP leader C Ramachandraiah were among those who are attending the meeting during which Chidambaram will handed over the Justice B N Srikrishna Committee report on the Telangana statehood demand.
The Andhra Pradesh government on Monday announced the withdrawal of 565 cases against 2,436 students, who had been booked in connection with pro-Telangana protests and demands for an united Andhra Pradesh. But pro-Telangana parties are not satisfied as the government has not withdrawn the cases of serious offences including violence and destruction of private property.
The Telangana Rashtra Samiti on Friday gave a notice to Andhra Pradesh Assembly Speaker Nadendla Manohar seeking to move a no-confidence motion against the Congress government for "failing to keep its promise on the Telangana statehood issue."
Widely regarded as the father of the Telangana movement, K Chandrasekara Rao's absence during Sunday's massive protest in Hyderabad, which was attended by over 1.5 lakh people, raises questions.
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.
Two Congress members of Parliament from Telangana region have sent back their gunmen to the government saying the people were enough to protect them and they don't need any security.
The by-election was necessitated following the resignation of Pocharam in March this year. He had quit his assembly membership as well as the Telugu Desam Party on the statehood issue and joined the TRS.
Popular balladeer Ghaddar has made it clear that his proposed political party the Telangana Praja Front was not seeking to be an alternative to the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) but was a platform on which different organisations fighting for Telangana state will be brought together.
With the Congress in power in the state and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) snapping at its heels, the BRS is now fighting an existential battle.
Telangana Rashtra Samiti president K Chandrasekhar Rao and a delegation of the Telangana political Joint Action Committee on Friday left for Delhi to press for an early decision in favour of a separate Telangana state. The delegation will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other important leaders including Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, Rao told reporters. The BJP supports the demand for a separate Telangana state.
The battle for a separate state is expected to get uglier in Andhra Pradesh with pro-Telangana activists planning a power shutdown in Hyderabad next week. The Telangana Rastriya Samithi, which is leading the agitation, has been meeting with electricity board officials to plan the shutdown. There will be a power cut in Hyderabad next week onwards. This is one of the many protests before a rail roko movement starts from September 24.
Telangana Rashtra Samiti and Telangana Joint Action Committee have set the tone for the indefinite mass strike from Tuesday with a massive show of strength in Karimnagar district.
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.