The campaign for making Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, son of the late Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Rajasekhara Reddy, gathered pace on Friday with his supporters losing no time and taking up the issue with Congress President Sonia Gandhi.
Congress MP Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, who has been critical of the party leadership and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah, tonight tried to justify his decision to undertake his yatra saying it was necessary for consoling the families of those who died following the demise of his father.
Unlike his predecessor Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, who took a tough line against separate Telangana, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah has no personal view on the bifurcation of his state and would like the Centre to find a lasting solution not a "temporary truce".
In true filmy style, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah on Thursday offered his seat to Leader of Opposition N Chandrababu Naidu for a week to let the latter resolve the ongoing inter-state dispute over irrigation projects with Maharashtra.
Even as the Central government was making serious and determined efforts to put an end to the crisis in Andhra Pradesh over the Telangana issue, mudslinging was continuing in the ruling Congress party.
The Telangana agitation over the Centre's decision to create a new state in the region has forced several companies, including Bharat Forge, the Lakshmi Mittal Group and the NTPC-BHEL joint venture, to either put their expansion plans on hold or explore other states.
In the face of a virtual boycott by 13 ministers from Telangana region, a meeting of the Andhra Pradesh cabinet, scheduled to be held in Hyderabad on Wednesday, has been postponed."We have postponed the meeting in view of the bandh call given by the Telangana Joint Action Committee," Chief Minister K Rosaiah told reporters on Tuesday night. He, however, did not agree with the suggestion that the meeting was postponed because of the announcement by 13 ministers.
The Telugu Desam Party has sought a clarification from Chief Minister K Rosaiah on the pro-active role being taken by new Governor E S L Narasimhan that was raising doubts about the possibility of the imposition of President's rule in Andhra Pradesh.
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 issue is not pertaining only to Andhra Pradesh now. It is for the government of India to show us a way to resolve the crisis and help restore normalcy," he told a press conference in Hyderabad, a week after Home Minister P Chidambaram's statement favouring the creation of Telangana.
"We are getting reports that students and others in the coastal Andhra region are agitating. The police has entered the Andhra University in Visakhapatnam and is trying to maintain law and order," he said. "We should together make an appeal to the people to observe restraint. We should all strive for peace."
TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao, who ended his 11-day fast undertaken to press for Telangana state, was shifted out from ICU of the Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) in Hyderabad.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah was on Saturday nominated the Congress Legislature Party leader by party chief Sonia Gandhi, bringing down the curtains on the issue of sucessor to late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, who died in a helicopter crash more than two months ago.
An organisational portfolio in the Andhra Pradesh unit of the Congress party seems to be all that Y S Jaganmohan Reddy--son of late chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy--will get for the time being. Halting his aspirations of taking over the mantle from his father, the Congress high command has decided to continue with current Chief Minister K Rosaiah for the time being.
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.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah's three-day visit to the flood-hit areas in Kurnool, Guntur and Krishna districts turned out to be a bitter experience after angry people stopped his convoy at many places, shouted slogans against him, and even stoned the bus he was traveling in in Kurnool district.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh will visit Andhra Pradesh on Friday to undertake an aerial survey of the flood affected areas and to review the flood situation with the state government.
Army and airforce helicopters were on Friday pressed into service to rescue 25,000 people who were marooned in the worst-ever floods that hit Kurnool town of Andhra Pradesh following heavy rains and release of water from over-flowing dams.
The Andhra Pradesh unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday urged the state Governor N D Tiwari to intervene to resolve the crisis over the continuance of K Rosaiah as the state chief minister.
Clear battle lines have started emerging in the ruling Congress party in Andhra Pradesh between the supporters and opponents of YS Jaganmohan Reddy, the son of departed leader Y S Rajasekhara Reddy.
Home Minister P Chidambaram said on Wednesday that the riots in Hyderabad were a result of "petty skirmishes" and asserted that all those behind the violence would have to pay a "heavy price".
Taken aback by the stinging criticism of their behavior with the Chief Minister K Rosaiah, all the 34 members of Andhra Pradesh cabinet have on Thursday denied that they were not cooperating with Rosaiah and not discharging their duties.
Who will take over the mantle of the Congress in Andhra Pradesh? This is the big question in the event of the death of charismatic leader Dr Y S Rajashekhara Reddy.
Senior Andhra Pradesh minister K Rosaiah is likely to be made the acting chief minister in the wake of Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy's death in a chopper crash. Highly placed Congress sources said the party was not in a hurry to convene the meeting of the Congress Legislature Party, to elect Reddy's successor, and the meeting could take place three or four days later.Rosaiah, 77, is Andhra's finance minister and the number two in the state cabinet.
A helicopter carrying Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy today went missing on its way to Chittoor district.
Andhra Pradesh Finance Minister K Rosaiah said the government would not cancel the projects awarded to Satyam sister concern Maytas Infra or blacklist the company. Instead, it would prefer to tackle each project individually. There would be legal complications and a price the government would have to pay if it calls off a project awarded to a company and vice-versa. Also, the re-tendering of the same work may be costlier due to the variation in prices, he said.
The number of Congress MPs to resign to protest against the Centre's decision to carve out a separate Telangana state from Andhra Pradesh has gone up to three, while 90 MLAs from Congress, Telugu Desam Party and Praja Rajyam have also resigned. Two TDP MPs have also submitted their resignation.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah, who took over the stewardship of the state amid a campaign by supporters by late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy to give his son the top post, said on Saturday that a meeting of Congress Legislature Party would be held before year-end.
Work on the Hyderabad metro rail will begin by May next year and some sections will be opened for traffic by March 2014. The entire project will be completed by end of 2014.
In an indication of the continuing tussle over the issue of leadership in Andhra Pradesh, Chief Minister K Rosaiah further delayed his entry in to the CM's office used by his predecessor Y S Rajasekhara Reddy.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah, who took over on Thursday last after the death of Y S Rajasekhara Reddy in a helicopter crash, has asked the police officials not to cause difficulties to the citizens by stopping traffic on the roads of Hyderabad and Secunderabad to facilitate the movement of his car.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah on Saturday announced Rs 10 lakh each as immediate relief to the bereaved families of the two officers and two pilots who died in the helicopter crash along with Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy on September 2.
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader O Panneerselvam on Friday stepped down from his post as the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, even as party supremo J Jayalalithaa was re-elected as the legislature party leader at a meeting held in Chennai.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah on Saturday presented a tax-free budget for financial year 2010-11 with an outlay of Rs 1,13,675 crore (Rs 1.13 trillion) and a projected expenditure of Rs 1,13,660 crore.
Proceedings were stalled for 25 minutes over the incident wherein the police misbehaved with CPI-M legislator Sunnam Rajaiah and his family members.