Assembly elections in Telangana and residuary Andhra Pradesh may not be held along with the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
A decision on the sensitive and much-delayed Telangana issue may soon come from the Centre, the Congress indicated on Monday.
Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Monday relieved two of his secretaries of their duties in the Chief Minister's Office as part of a reshuffle of nearly a dozen Indian Administrative Service officers in the state.
Congress MP Lagadapati Rajagopal on Saturday took a swipe at Sonia Gandhi, saying she "ignored" the groundswell of support against division of Andhra Pradesh by not listening to the party leaders on the issue.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and his cabinet colleagues, barring two, from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions on Wednesday submitted "affidavits" stating their opposition to the proposed bifurcation of the state and rejecting the AP Reorganisation Bill-2013.
The Group of Ministers, set up to look into the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, has completed the process of discussions with various stake holders and will submit its report to the Union cabinet as early as possible to pave way for tabling Telangana Bill in the winter session of Parliament.
The issue of resignation by Congress MPs from Seemandhra continues to hang fire. Their meeting with Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, which was scheduled for Tuesday, has been delayed further.
The fire broke out at 4 pm and was brought under control after some time. The exact cause of the accident could not be ascertained, HPCL officials said.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy has told the Congress leadership that he would not be a party to a division of the state.
The launch of Jana Sena party by Union minister Chiranjeevi's brother and Telugu movie star Pawan Kalyan may alter political equations in Andhra Pradesh, more particularly in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions, days ahead of elections to Lok Sabha and the state assembly.
In the wake of attempts by the government to push the Telangana Bill, Union Minister Jairam Ramesh said that it should not rush the proposed legislation amidst the "cacophony" in Parliament.
Cracking the whip, the Congress on Tuesday expelled six Lok Sabha Members of Parliament from Andhra Pradesh who had opposed the creation of Telangana and had given a notice of no-confidence motion against the government.
Terming the rejection of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation-2013 Bill by the state legislature as the Brahmastra (a mythological weapon of great power), Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy has expressed confidence that President Pranab Mukherjee would take into consideration that matter before sending the bill to the Parliament.
The Congress government in Andhra Pradesh was on Monday vertically split over Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy's bid to move a resolution to return the bifurcation bill, with Telangana ministers demanding that he quit as they no longer recognised him as leader of the house.
Ministers from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions, including Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, of Andhra Pradesh are likely to resign from their posts en masse as soon as the ongoing debate on the draft AP Reorganisation Bill-2013 concludes.
Every general election since 2004 has been seeing the foray of one or two new parties into the political battlefield in Andhra Pradesh.
The Centre on Thursday sent the controversial Telangana Bill to the Andhra Pradesh Assembly, setting a six-week timeline to approve the proposal to bifurcate the state.
Torrential rains and resultant deluge in 16 districts of Andhra Pradesh last week left 53 persons dead and caused a loss of Rs 3,756 crore, but the situation is returning to normal with floodwater receding.
Lashing out at Congress President Sonia Gandhi for "playing with the lives of Telugu people" and "murdering democracy in broad daylight", YSR Congress chief Y S Jaganmohan Reddy on Saturday called on Telugu people to give 30 Lok Sabha seats to his party in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections to stop the division of Andhra Pradesh.
Talks between Andhra Pradesh government and striking Non-Gazetted Officers Association, to end the ongoing indefinite strike by government employees, did not bear fruit as the latter vowed to continue agitation against proposed bifurcation of the state.
The YSR Congress Party headed by Jaganmohan Reddy has written to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy urging him to call for an urgent assembly session to defeat the proposal to divide the state and carve out a separate Telangana.
Ministers and Congress MLAs from Rayalaseema raised a demand that the new capital of Andhra Pradesh be located in Rayalaseema region, implying Kurnool town.
With the Congress top brass in New Delhi likely to take a final call on Friday on the vexed Telangana issue, the development has sparked a flurry of activities in the Andhra Pradesh capital.
The two-storeyed Hotel City Light and Bakery, located on RP road in Secunderabad, crashed at around 6 am on Monday.
Throwing a direct challenge at the Congress high command, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Saturday said that he would ensure the defeat of the AP Reorganisation Bill 2013 when it comes up for passage in the state assembly.
Political parties and the journalists unions which kept quiet over the arrest of two reporters in connection with the report on the Director General of Police V dinesh Reddy's visit to a godman in the old city of Hyderabad have swung into action after the police booked cases against the editor and resident editor of The Hindu newspaper.
Government employees enjoy a pay revision every five years, unlike once in every 10 years for central government employees, and draw relatively higher salary.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Tuesday refused to get drawn into the debate of the "original and final" AP Reorganisation Bill-2013 even as he wrote to the President seeking extension of deadline for discussing and returning it.
Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Wednesday expressed hope the Andhra Pradesh legislative Assembly will send its decision on draft Telangana bill before the timeframe set by the President for the process to be carried forward by the Centre subsequently.
Andhra Pradesh Civil Supplies Minister D Sridhar Babu resigned from the Cabinet on Thursday night protesting the divesting of legislative affairs portfolio that he had been holding for over three years now.
Leaders of various parties from both sides of the political divide met President Pranab Mukherjee at the Raj Bhavan in Hyderabad on Monday night and put forth their arguments for and against the proposed bifurcation of the state.
It is all out war between Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and Deputy Chief Minister Damodar Rajanarasimha.
Amid the increasing pressure on the Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy from the Central government either to end the crisis arising out of the indefinite strike of government employees or face the axe, crucial talks were scheduled to take place between the chief minister and the leaders of the Andhra Prasdesh Non Gazetted Officers Association on Wednesday.
The beleaguered chief of Andhra Pradesh Police V Dinesh Reddy appears to be descending into deeper trouble. The Central Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday formally launched its probe into his alleged disproportionate assets following a Supreme Court order.
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.
It has been virtually a ten-year wait that's coming to a happy end for the 47-year-old leader, who nurtured the ambition of becoming chief minister soon after his father's death in September 2009.
President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday gave seven more days to the Andhra Pradesh assembly till January 30 to discuss and debate the draft Telangana Bill in the House before returning it to the Centre.
An AK-47 rifle wielding man allegedly tried to abduct Aurobindo Pharma's Director K Nityananda Reddy from his car near a park and opened fire when Reddy and his brother resisted in the posh Banjara Hills on Wednesday morning.
The Andhra Pradesh Government has set up about 100 relief camps across the state and air-dropped food packets to people affected by heavy rains and floods even as the situation in East and West Godavari districts turned grim.
Alleging that ruling Congress is "not serious" about bringing Lokpal Bill, the Bharatiya Janata Party has said that the United Progressive Alliance government could have brought the anti-graft legislation long ago as there was consensus over the issue.
