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.
This comes after the agency conducted searches at his residence earlier in the day in connection with the case.
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.
Jagan maintains a cordial working relationship with the BJP leadership. This may help him get additional financial support from the Centre.
This is the fourth supplementary and overall fifth charge sheet or prosecution complaint filed in the case by the ED before a designated special Prevention of Money Laundering Act court in Delhi.
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.
Sri Lanka is facing 'a very serious crisis' that makes India naturally worried, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar told an all-party meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday and dismissed suggestions about such a situation arising in India.
The MLC daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao reached the ED office in central Delhi from the Tughlaq Road official residence of her father around 11.30 am and left shortly after 9.40 pm.
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
The youth leadership taking the reigns of the states was a rare event in the last century as very few broke the glass ceilings.
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.
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.
Reddy alone will take oath on Thursday while his Council of Ministers is likely to be constituted on June 7, party sources said.
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 results in Seemandhra have shocked YSR Congress chief Jaganmohan Reddy.
Over the last two days, Dalit organisations and the opposition Telugu Desam Party put in sustained pressure calling for the police to arrest the ruling party legislator.
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.
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.
'They have no incentive to be part of either the NDA or INDIA at this stage, but they may hedge their bets towards the winning coalition in the post-poll setting.'
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.
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.
Eleven MLAs from the Congress and the Telugu Desam Party have expressed their willingness to quit their respective parties and join Jagan Mohan Reddy's YSR Congress, say sources close to the leader.On Friday, Congress MLA A Nani had openly supported YSR Congress chief Jagan.Today, Congress leader Ranga Rao from Bobili constituency announced his decision to quit the Congress and join Jagan. He is likely to formally join the YSR Congress by Saturday evening.
A day after 16 YSR Congress MLAs and one from Congress announced resignations in support of united Andhra Pradesh, two more ruling party legislators from non-Telangana regions today said they would also quit as the central leadership moves towards a decision on statehood.
P Mithun Reddy was detained by the immigration officers at the Chennai airport after he returned from Bangkok around 1 am.
The 26-member Cabinet, including the Chief Minister, has three women members; two from the Scheduled Castes and one from the Scheduled Tribes.
The Enforcement Directorate on Friday claimed before a Delhi court that Aam Aadmi Party leader and former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia was involved in "large scale destruction of digital evidence to impede investigation" into the Delhi excise policy case and had changed and destroyed 14 phones.
Almost a week after the death of Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy in a helicopter crash, Andhra Pradesh is facing an unprecedented situation as some of the ministers in the state seem to be staying away from their offices and are not extending cooperation to the Chief Minister Ken Rosaiah as they were upset with the party high command for not installing YSR's son Jaganmohan Reddy as chief minister.
With some variations, all regional political formations, whether in power presently or out of it, share some common features: Tight family control of the political apparatus, key members in elected or appointed positions, obvious wealth but not quite known sources of income, and family factionalism, sometimes open and bitter, notes Shreekant Sambrani.
The YSR Congress's misreading of the urban voters and TDP's decision not to field a candidate and campaign for its ally BJP led to Vijayamma's poll debacle in Visakhapatanam. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
'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.'
