The Andhra Pradesh government on Wednesday appealed to Telangana employees not to put common people to inconvenience and invited them for talks on Thursday to discuss the strike notice served by them.
The Srikrishna Committee on the Telangana issue has said it would wrap up consultations with key stakeholders by July this year and urged the Joint Action Council, which is spearheading the agitation for a separate state, not to boycott it. V K Duggal, member-secretary of the five-member Committee, who arrived in Hyderabad on Tuesday night to put in place the necessary infrastructure to start its work, said, "We will get enough material to give a balanced report".
The issue pertaining to the formation of a separate Telangana state is expected to heat up further with two major meetings scheduled for February 7.
MIM President Asaduddin Owaisi told rediff.com on Thursday that MIM was a political party responsible to the people and it cannot act under pressure from any committee or forum.
The commission is also likely to call certain organisations and people for a personal hearing in the coming days.
The Congress high command has sent across a stern message to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy that he will be disqualified if he does not toe the party line on the Telangana issue.
Amid the growing clamour for a separate state of Telangana, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said there would be further consultations on the issue."I think the home minister had a meeting with leaders of political parties from Andhra Pradesh. They had gone back and will study the report of the Srikrishna Committee. There will be further consultations," Dr Singh said. His comments came at a time when Congress MPs from Telangana region have threatened to resign.
According to sources, senior Congress leader Jaipal Reddy is a heading a major campaign to oust Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy, as a section of the party feels that the chief minister is single-handedly thwarting the formation of Telangana.
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.
"My greatest regret is that a couple of students reportedly committed suicide. That, I think, should have been completely avoided. Why should children commit suicide? Parents, teachers have responsibility to stop this. But keeping that apart, by and large, things are peaceful there. There is no major law and order violation. We are sticking to our words," he said.
It is not much of an issue just now, but it could become one if the idea of caste census captures socio-political imagination, going beyond electoral tags and identities, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Ahead of the crucial Congress Working Committee meeting likely to be held in New Delhi on July 28regarding the Telangana issue, MLAs from the Seema-Andhra region have stepped up pressure not to bifurcate the state.
It would certainly help if in the first five or ten years the new state had a Telangana United Front government which included all political parties and which then would dedicate itself to bringing about fast development for the neglected region, says Gautam Pingle in the final part of a two-part series on the new state.
The Congress's strategy is to get the bill passed in the Rajya Sabha and then try its luck in the Lok Sabha, where it is unsure of the Bharatiya Janata party's support for it. This, say sources, is the GoM's face-saver plan, as the Rajya Sabha's okay will keep the Bill alive for the 16th Lok Sabha.
Telangana Rashtra Samiti president K Chandrasekhar Rao on Friday asked the party's supporters, especially students, to be prepared for a 'great war' when the Srikrishna Committee submits its report. "A great war will be inevitable after December. We have to keep our weapons sharp. Party leaders said they will enroll 10 lakh members. If these 10 lakh come on to the streets after December, can the government function," he said while addressing the party's student wing.
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.
Security is tightened and prohibitory orders are imposed in Hyderabad in view of Wednesday's 'Telangana bandh' called to press for statehood to the region.
The Telugu Desam Party on Wednesday night announced that it would not attend the all-party meeting convened by Union Home Minister P Chidambaram in Delhi on Thursday to discuss the Srikrishna Committee report on Telangana statehood issue. In a letter to Chidambaram, TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu said it was for the Centre to take the decision on the issue.Telangana Rashtra Samiti and BJP have already said they will not be attending the meet on Friday.
Reddy stated that KCR's statement on proposing a new constitution is an extension of the idea of the BJP.
A crucial meeting of the Congress Core Group on Friday will discuss the Telangana issue with "both options open" as a decision "cannot be postponed anymore", said senior party leader Digvijay Singh.
In view of the rail-roko call given by Telangana Joint Action Committee in Telangana region, the South Central Railway on Thursday announced cancellation of as many as 124 passenger trains for three-day period.
The Andhra Pradesh government has asked chief secretary Pankaj Dwivedi to engage Telangana Employees Joint Action Committee leaders in talks to end the ongoing strike that entered the 31st day on Thursday.
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.
The just-concluded meeting of the Group of Ministers has remained inconclusive and the same team would meet again on Wednesday. The contentious issue was the creation of a Rayal-Telangana and the GoM sought to know if this could be proposed despite it not being part of the Cabinet note.
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.
'Most leaders, from Lalu Yadav and Mamata to M K Stalin, respect and trust Sonia. She should continue unless she expressly declines.'
The process involving the formation of a separate Telangana state will rest largely with the general public rather than the political leaders, Telangana Rashtra Samiti general secretary Subhash Reddy said on Thursday.
The Group of Ministers on Telangana is set to discuss the draft bill for the creation of Telangana on Saturday.
Outgoing WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh has convened a meeting on Sunday to nominate his panel, which will contest the upcoming WFI elections to elect the new office-bearers.
The Telangana Joint Action Committee on Wednesday demanded that the Centre initiate steps for formation of a separate state within a 'clear time frame' and resolved to continue its 'peaceful' agitation till the decision is officially announced.The committee, which met in New Delhi a day after an all party meeting called by Home Minister P Chidambaram ended in a stalemate, also expressed dismay over attempts to bring the element of Naxalism in the separate state movement.
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.
The Justice Srikrishna Committee report has recommended in a "secret" supplementary note steps the Centre should take to keep the Telangana statehood issue under check in Andhra Pradesh.
Seeking to mount pressure on the ruling Congress leaders, the Telangana political Joint Action Committee on Monday asked them to quit their posts and join the "strike by all sections of people" scheduled to start from next month.
Braving attacks by pro-Telangana elements, nearly one lakh employees from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions congregated in Hyderabad on Saturday for a rally, which gave the call to keep the state united.
'I asked him why were he and other writers being targeted.' 'I saw his point of view, that he and others being writers, their work was popular and well-appreciated by people, especially the youth.' 'This made the State fear them.'
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
Speaking to reporters after visiting the flood-hit Bhadrachalam town in Bhadradri-Kothagudem district, Rao announced allocation of Rs 1,000 crore as a rehabilitation package for the temple town to build colonies in highlands for a permanent solution from flood threat.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Thursday dismissed reports of divisions within the ruling Congress on the emotive Telangana issue and asked everyone to wait till the Justice BN Srikrishna Committee report on the statehood issue is released on Thursday.
It will now take at least two more years to get a clarity on the priorities and policies of the leadership of the new state of Telangana.
There is a likelihood of some delay regarding an announcement on Telangana with the Congress seeking to buy more time to resolve the vexed issue despite the January 28 deadline set by the Centre to decide the matter.
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