First it was violence and now a non-cooperation movement. The next in the line will be rail roko starting on March 1 to intensify the demand for a separate Telangana state.
In a major setback to the ruling Congress party in Telangana region, its state president D Srinivas was defeated on his home turf of Nizamabad urban constituency by a margin of 12,600 votes.
Congress members of Legislative Assembly from Telangana have set a February deadline for the Union government to table the Telangana Bill in the Parliament failing which they would tender their resignations. This decision came at a meeting that saw the participation of 60 Congress leaders in Hyderabad on Friday evening.
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.
The Congress on Tuesday suffered a major upset in Himachal Pradesh at the hands of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Rajya Sabha elections which were marred by cross-voting in all the three states though it won three seats in Karnataka while the saffron party pocketed an extra seat in Uttar Pradesh.
Gandhi will embark on a 15-kilometre padyatra in Telangana's Adilabad district on Friday, highlighting the issues of farmers.
Mounting pressure on the Centre, Congress and Telegu Desam Party legislators from Telangana asserted that they will resign on Monday in support of their demand for statehood to the region.
Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh on Sunday said a separate state of Telangana could be carved out of Andhra Pradesh, only if the State Assembly first passes a resolution on it.
The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday questioned former Indian cricket team captain and Congress leader Mohammed Azharuddin for over nine hours in a money laundering case linked to alleged financial irregularities in the Hyderabad Cricket Association, official sources said.
If states have to fall in line with MSPs declared by political parties, they will have to do so in violation of central order or bear the full expense of the surplus procured at above MSP rates.
The Enforcement Directorate on Friday questioned Karnataka Congress president D K Shivakumar in the National Herald money laundering case, officials said.
Both the TRS and Congress are desperately looking for alliances to form the first government in Telangana, however, the last resort for both of them will be to join hands. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
The vexatious Telangana statehood issue is hanging like a Damocles' sword on the Congress' head. It is still unable to take a call on whether or not to grant statehood to the region though it's off and on releasing signals that something is going to happen.
Pushed to the corner by the deteriorating health condition of Telangana Rashtriya Samiti chief K Chandrasekhar Rao, the Congress on Wednesday night agreed to pass a resolution in the Andhra Pradesh assembly for the creation of a separate Telangana state, in a bid to defuse the current volatile situation. Addressing a press conference late on Wednesday night, Home Minister P Chidambaram said, "The process of creating a separate Telangana state will be initiated."
The party's gamble to go in for early elections paid rich dividends.
'This is what happens when you do politics in between personal foreign trips and nightclubbing'
In the clearest indication that the Congress leadership is moving towards the formation of a separate state of Telangana, the party organised a massive show of strength in Hyderabad on Sunday giving a clarion call in favour of the new state.
BJP leaders hit back at the DMK and asked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi if he agreed with the insulting remarks of its Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) partner against the north Indians.
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.
For the Congress government in Andhra Pradesh the ongoing crisis in Telangana will not end with granting statehood. The decision on making Hyderabad a common capital or Union Territory will be a crucial one if it wants to retain power in the state, reports Vicky Nanjappa.
Faced with fresh agitation on the issue of Telangana and continued uncertainties over the food security bill, the Congress top brass including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and party chief Sonia Gandhi deliberated on the way ahead.
A Hyderabad court granted bail to six people who were arrested for vandalizing the residence of Telugu actor Allu Arjun. The incident sparked a political slugfest with the BJP and the BRS criticizing the Congress government. Meanwhile, Allu Arjun has been issued a notice to appear before police on Tuesday as part of the ongoing probe into a stampede during the screening of 'Pushpa-2'. The incident occurred on Sunday evening, when the six people, claiming to be members of the Osmania University - Joint Action Committee (OU-JAC), damaged flower pots and threw tomatoes at Arjun's residence. They were arrested by police and produced before a local court, which granted them bail on Monday. The incident has been condemned by politicians from various parties, with some alleging a Congress conspiracy.
All India Congress Committee chief Sonia Gandhi is studying AICC observer Ghulam Nabi Azad's note on Telangana and a decision is likely to be out by this weekend.
Grappling with the contentious Telangana issue, the Congress on Sunday indicated that the much-talked about mechanism on it was unlikely to be formed soon and urged partymen to withdraw from the Joint Action Committee agitating for the creation of a separate state, warning them of stern action for indiscipline. "The terms of reference are under preparation and not yet finalised," said Union Law Minister M Veerappa Moily, who is also in charge of party affairs in the state.
Why weren't the chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Kerala, Maharashtra and Telangana -- all of which have borders with Karnataka -- not invited to Saturday's swearing-in ceremony, asks Shyam G Menon.
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.
Amit Shah believes Bandi Sanjay Kumar is 'single-handedly' capable of unseating the TRS government in the December 2023 assembly election and there is no need for the BJP's central leaders to jump into the Telangana scene.
The ruling Telugu Desam party is trying to take advantage of the anxiety of Telangana Rashtra Samiti over the coming by elections to 12 assembly seats in Telangana region. While the TRS was hoping that all the MLAs who had resigned in support of Telangana state will be re-elected unanimously and no other party will enter the fray, Congress and Telugu Desam have queered the pitch by declaring their intentions to contest the by elections.
The prospect of an upset worries the ruling Congress in Andhra Pradesh as it faces a threat from a rebel candidate in the biennial election to Rajya Sabha slated for Friday.
Andhra leaders are readying for a stormy session over Telangana tomorrow. Vicky Nanjappa reports
Hyderabad remained tense on Sunday in anticipation of an announcement by the Centre on the creation of a separate state of Telangana by Sunday evening. Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde is expected to meet party chief Sonia Gandhi and other senior leaders before making a final announcement on Telangana by Sunday evening.
'The pressure from these betting games, coupled with financial ruin, is becoming unbearable for many, and tragically, some even resort to extreme measures like suicide.'
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance is expected to achieve a clear majority in Rajya Sabha after bye-elections for 12 seats scheduled next month, which would help the party get the nod for key legislations such as the Waqf (Amendment) Bill.
Vicky Nanjappa spoke to Madhu Yashki Goud, Congress Member of Parliament from the Telangana region, on what forced his party of suddenly change its stance on granting statehood to Telangana.
The BJP, which rules the Centre, is in power in Uttarakhand, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Goa, Assam, Tripura, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, and is all set to get Madhya Pradesh back and snatch Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh from the Congress after today's vote count.
With its age-old fascination for education, southern states have done better than the North. Start-ups, IT hubs, and industry majors setting up shop have changed the face of the South. Nearly 79% of global offices set up by international conglomerates in India are in the South. Almost 46% of tech unicorns are from the South. The GDP per person in the South is 4.2 times higher than the North. None of these indicators can be ignored by any central government, whatever the political compulsions, notes Ramesh Menon.
The Telangana government will be embarking on a week long celebration from Tuesday to observe its Formation Day.
In its closure report on Rohith Vemula's death, the Telangana police claimed he was not a Dalit and died by suicide in 2016 as he feared that his "real caste" would be discovered.
Kharge's remarks came after Modi on Friday said the Congress stands "badly exposed" in front of people for promising to them what the party knows it will never be able to deliver.
The grand old party faces the onerous task of rebuilding its moribund organisation, which is struggling to overcome a leadership crisis and regain credibility with the voters.
