The manufacturer of Bell helicopters has offered its assistance to authorities in probing the crash of the Bell-430 chopper which claimed the lives of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajashekhar Reddy and four others.
In Tuesday's vote only 19 Congress MLAs voted against the Andhra Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy as against YSR Congress chief Jaganmohan Reddy's threat that he had the strength to pull out 40. Clearly, Jagan does not enjoy the support he boasts about, say political observers.
Facing a battle of prestige in the June 12 by-polls, the ruling Congress appears to be going all out to take credit for various welfare schemes launched by late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, while distancing itself from the graft allegations linked to his tenure as chief minister.
The helicopter crash, which claimed the life of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S R Reddy, was caused by pilots' error who lost the chopper's control and were engrossed for vital six minutes trying to locate a flight manual, the probe report said on Wednesday.
As the situation was limping back to normalcy in Andhra Pradesh a day after unprecedented violence and attacks on the offices and retail outlets of both the rival Reliance groups, the state government booked a criminal case against a Telugu news channel TV5 for carrying an unverified report linking the names of Mukesh and Anil Ambani to the alleged foul play behind the death of former Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy in a helicopter crash in September last year.
The Andhra Pradesh government has stressed that all the mandatory maintenance work and checks were carried out on the Bell-430 helicopter before it took off for its last journey on September 2 and crashed killing the state Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and four others.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah said on Tuesday that if there was a conspiracy behind the death of former chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy in a helicopter crash, it needs to be uncovered.
The Civil Aviation Ministry on Thursday night set up a four-member committee to probe the cause of Andhra Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy's helicopter crash in which he was killed.
An SMS received by the mobile phone of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S R Reddy's security officer John Wesley after the VVIP helicopter crashed is what provided the most crucial clue to trace the accident site, government officials said in New Delhi on Thursday.
Cutting across party lines, chief ministers of various Indian states on Thursday paid glowing tributes to Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, while many states declared mourning and a Holiday, as a mark of respect to the leader killed in a helicopter crash.
A four member team of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, led by R K Tyagi, will visit the site in dense Nallamalla forest on Thursday where the Bell-430 helicopter, carrying Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and four others, had crashed a week ago.The team landed in Kurnool on Wednesday to start its probe into the crash, which had sent shock waves across the country and raised serious questions about the safety of the helicopters used by VIPs.
The Telugu Desam Party-Bharatiya Janata Party combine on Friday appeared set for an impressive performance in Seemandhra by leading in about 90 Assembly seats, followed by YSR Congress in around 70, out of the total 175 seats in the region.
'Gehlot is right now doing things, which are not appreciated by the Gandhis.' 'The Gandhis have realised that their writ does not run in Rajasthan, therefore they have deflected the issue to Kharge.'
Some of our leaders were busybusy over the weekend.
He came into political life with much fanfare but of late has been confronted by CBI raids and a slew of cases against him. Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa speaks to YSR Congress chief Jaganmohan Reddy.
Reddy alone will take oath on Thursday while his Council of Ministers is likely to be constituted on June 7, party sources said.
Denying allegations of orchestrating the latest delay in the formation of the Telangana state, Jagan Mohan Reddy's YSR Congress is going all out portraying the Congress and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi as the real villains. Vicky Nanjappa reports
Like brother like sister! The Congress belief that Jaganmohan Reddy's jail term would dent the YSR Congress's popularity in Andhra Pradesh takes a hit with his sister Sharmila proving to be yet another crowd-puller.
YSR President Jagan Mohan Reddy is set to break his silence on the Telangana issue at the party plenary. But will risk speaking in favour of Telangana or sit on the fence? Vicky Nanjappa reports
While the ruling party blamed unnamed forces behind the arson, all opposition parties hit out at the Jagan Mohan Reddy government over its "gross failure" in controlling the situation.
Although sources in Jaganmohan Reddy's party say that a patch-up between the YSR Congress and the Congress in highly unlikely, they would still prefer Pranab for President as the UPA is better than the BJP-led NDA, reports Vicky Nanjappa.
YS Jaganmohan Reddy's YSR Congress party is appearing to be all set to emerge as a formidable political force breaching the Congress fortress of Andhra Pradesh.
Two more Congress members of Legislative Assembly on Thursday appeared to be switching loyalty to YSR Congress of Kadapa Member of Parliament Jagan Mohan Reddy.
A Delhi court on Friday sent former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, arrested in a money laundering case related to the excise policy, to the Enforcement Directorate's custody till March 17.
Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Praful Patel said he would be ordering an inquiry into the tragic accident, and added that notwithstanding the inclement weather, it was the pilot's duty to determine a flight could be taken or not.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy was embarking upon another major public contact program of "Rachabanda" (Village square) to have a better understanding of the situation at the grass root level when his helicopter went missing on Wednesday.
With a Sukhoi fighter aircraft, a special air craft from Indian Space Research Organization and another low flying aircraft of the state government completing a comprehensive aerial survey of Nallamalla forest area to find missing Andhra Pradesh CM Y S Rajashekhara Reddy's helicopter on Wednesday night and gathering crucial data including the photographs, focus of the search operation on Thursday will move to the ground.
The results in Seemandhra have shocked YSR Congress chief Jaganmohan Reddy.
Incessant rains, and not Maoists, is the major hurdle facing the security forces who have launched a massive search operation in the Nallamalla forests in Andhra Pradesh, where Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy's helicopter went missing this morning, Andhra Pradesh police sources involved in the search operations have said.
The 26-member Cabinet, including the Chief Minister, has three women members; two from the Scheduled Castes and one from the Scheduled Tribes.
As the questioning of Jagan Mohan Reddy by officials of the Central Bureau of Investigation continues at Hyderabad, the equations between the Congress and Reddy's YSR Congress are being redefined. Although the agency may not arrest Jagan right now, leaders of YSR Congress are already formulating a back-up plan for such an eventuality. The CBI has clarified that it is merely questioning Jagan as a witness in the case.
Counting began at 8 am under multi-tier security cover. At first, postal ballots will be counted and then EVMs opened.
A sobbing Telugu Desam president N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday vowed to step into the Andhra Pradesh legislative assembly again only after returning to power.
Vijay Sai Reddy, auditor for the YSR family and accused No 2 in YSR Congress party leader YS Jaganmohan Reddy's disproportionate asset case, will have to go back to Chanchalguda Central Jail of Hyderabad, from where he was released on bail only a week ago.
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YSR Congress President Y S Jaganmohan Reddy said that he would undertake an indefinite fast in Hyderabad from on Saturday against the Centre's decision to divide Andhra Pradesh.
After YSR Congress President Jagan Mohan Reddy's landslide victory in Kadapa by-polls the Congress is chalking out plans counter his growing popularity. In a recent meeting, Congress MLAs pointed out that formation of Telangana may be their only option. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
Polling was by and large peaceful in the bypolls for three Lok Sabha and seven assembly seats spread across five states and Delhi on Thursday barring an incident of stabbing of a policeman in Tripura, where polling was the highest at 76.62 per cent.
YSR Congress President Y S Jaganmohan Reddy moved the Supreme Court seeking a stay on the Andhra Pradesh High Court order for a preliminary probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into alleged disproportionate assets accumulated by him.
P Mithun Reddy was detained by the immigration officers at the Chennai airport after he returned from Bangkok around 1 am.
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