Senior Congress leader and Union Minister Pallam Raju has voiced his opposition over carving a separate Telangana state from Andhra Pradesh and said it was becoming apparent there was no unanimity among MPs and MLAs in the state.
If Saudi Arabia, with just two Muslim holy sites of Mecca and Medina, can create a huge tourism-based ecosystem beyond oil, Ayodhya is sure to become the world's hottest religious tourism site in less than a decade, predicts R Jagannathan.
The colourful rally galvanised the BRS workers who shouted slogans hailing the party-led regime's welfare schemes in Telangana and peppy political songs praised Rao's 'national' emergence.
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.
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.
The sources said the Congress is the binding force for the opposition bloc and the stronger the Congress emerges the better for the alliance.
YSR Congress chief Jagan Mohan Reddy is in New Delhi to protest the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. He tells Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa that he is in New Delhi to show the strength of the Telugu people to Sonia Gandhi.
Normal life was disrupted in non-Telangana regions of Andhra Pradesh, as the bandh called by the All-Party Joint Action Committee (JAC) in support of United Andhra Pradesh began on Monday.
After having gone out on a limb over the creation of Telangana, the UPA government is expected to go for the kill and do whatever it takes to pass the bill in Lok Sabha. But the question remains whether the Congress would really be able to push the bill in the noise and confusion. Renu Mittal reports.
Flaying the United Progressive Alliance government for its 'unilateral' decision on the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, Telugu Desam Party President N Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday said the Congress is not in a position to convince its members on the tumultuous issue of "equal justice" for people of Telangana as well as Seemandhra.
In the months to come, the skies above promise to be a captivating theatre of action, where helicopters play starring roles, ferrying leaders, and echoing the pulse of democracy.
Thackeray announced "complete support" to Rao's "fight" against the Bharatiya Janata Party's alleged anti-people policies and to uphold federal spirit, it said.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy on Monday warned that the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh will spawn a host of problems, including political instability, Naxal threat, terrorism and communal violence.
Some names like 'Bharat Rashtriya Samiti', 'Ujwal Bharat Party' and 'Naya Bharat Party' were discussed for the new outfit.
Ratcheting up pressure on the United Progressive Alliance government on Telangana issue, a senior Congress leader on Sunday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in attacking Home Minister P Chidambaram for not delivering on the statehood "promise" even as the 'rail roko' agitation disrupted normal life in the region for the second day.
Kumar, who is now heading an alliance government in Bihar which includes the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Congress and the Left, has reached out to leaders like Arvind Kejriwal, Mamata Banerjee, Akhilesh Yadav, all of whom are opposed to the BJP but not very comfortable with the grand old party either.
'We form 20 per cent of the population of Telangana. We will get more political representation and a Muslim could become a chief minister or at least a deputy chief minister. Till date, there has not been a single Muslim chief minister in Andhra Pradesh.'
The BJP, the same party which in 2009 had said, 'Give us power and you will have Telangana within 24 hours', seems to be finding the going a bit bumpy. Vicky Nanjappa tells you why
A series of protests continued in the Seemandhra region of Andhra Pradesh for the sixth consecutive day on Monday against the Congress and the United Progressive Alliance's decision to bifurcate the state for creation of Telangana.
As the old Parliament building hosted a session one last time, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday bid a poignant farewell recalling the country's first PM Jawaharlal Nehru's iconic 'tryst with destiny' speech for continuing to inspire everyone and another predecessor Atal Bihari Vajpayee's 'governments may come and go' remark.
Signalling a major change in its strategy in the fight for a separate state, the Telagnana Joint Action Committee has said that the all the future protests will be chalked out jointly by those who have resigned from their elected posts and the representatives of other Telangana organisations.
Senior Janata Dal-United leader Dhananjay Singh pitched for Opposition unity ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and said party workers in Uttar Pradesh want Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to contest the elections from the state's Phulpur constituency.
Another meeting convened by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge at his residence in New Delhi on Wednesday with the floor leaders of the INDIA constituents in Parliament will, however, go ahead according to its schedule to formulate the opposition strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Life in Telangana is likely to come to a standstill on Tuesday, thanks to the state government's Intensive Household Survey. Not just the state-owned public transport buses, even private vehicles, will remain off the roads.
Indications are that the DMK combine will win more seats than the AIADMK and BJP, but is facing a tough fight in about half a dozen from the rest, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy of the electoral contest in Tamil Nadu.
A top Home Ministry official said no note has been prepared yet to be placed before tomorrow's scheduled meeting of the Cabinet to be chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Praja Rajyam president Chiranjeevi lacks sympathy for Telangana though he says that he is equally concerned about all regions of Andhra Pradesh, TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao has alleged.
Leader of the opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley speaks on the debate on the Andhra Pradesh (Reorganisation) Bill, 2014
The BJP, which is toying with the idea of forming the next government at the Centre feels that it does not want the headache of bifurcating a state, where a majority have expressed a negative view, says Vicky Nanjappa.
The Congress also asserted that the opposition INDIA bloc had been formed for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections at the national level and was not state specific.
With the Congress leadership reportedly inching towards a favourable decision on Telangana statehood demand, a party member of Legislative Assembly and several YSR Congress legislators from non-Telangana regions on Thursday said they have "resigned" in support of united Andhra Pradesh.
Film star-turned-politician and Praja Rajyam Party chief Chiranjeevi on Thursday announced his resignation from the state assembly in protest against the decision of the Central government to start the process for the formation of Telangana state by bifurcating Andhra Pradesh.
'Every Indian who is concerned about the unity, integrity and the map of India should be worried about this growing divide.'
Widespread protests broke out in non-Telangana regions observing a day-long bandh on Friday to protest the division of the state with agitators damaging buses, staging demonstrations and resorting to road blockades.
A huge drama has unfolded within the Congress party after the dramatic midnight announcement by Home Minister P Chidambaram to initiate the process of creation of a separate state of Telangana on Thursday.
The Centre on Thursday evening took the first significant step towards creation of a separate Telangana state from out of Andhra Pradesh and decided that Hyderabad will be the joint capital of the two states for 10 years.
The Congress, which is in the Opposition at the national level, has turned 'feeble and disintegrated', Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana said on Saturday, and suggested that all anti-Bharatiya Janata Party parties, including the Sena, should come together under the UPA banner to provide a formidable alternative.
The general strike called against the ongoing Telangana agitation in Andhra and Rayalseema region turned violent at many places on Monday. The bandh called by the all party Joint Action Committee in favour of united Andhra Pradesh hit the normal life in all the 13 districts of the two regions.
Prime minister Manmohan Singh and several Congress leaders are against the formation of a separate state but are supporting the decision in the hope that it would win the party seats in the region. Renu Mittal reports
Students, employees and other supporters of united Andhra Pradesh continued protests in the Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra regions on Tuesday, amid indications that the ruling Congress would take a decision in favour of separate Telangana.