Union Home Minister P Chidambaram was criticised by two opposition parties in Andhra Pradesh -- Telugu Desam and Praja Rajyam -- which said he was "adding fuel to fire" over the contentious Telangana issue.
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.
Congress leaders from Telangana region on Tuesday refuted former Andhra Pradesh governor N D Tiwari's comments that protagonists of statehood were behind allegations of sex scandal against him, saying the remark further eroded his prestige.
Telangana Rashtra Samithi president K Chandrasekhar Rao on Wednesday said a 'civil war' might occur if the Sri Krishna Committee fails to grant separate statehood to Telangana.
Five students of Osmania University, who have been holding an indefinite hunger strike in support of statehood for Telangana state, were on Sunday forcibly shifted to hospital as their health condition raised concern.
Telangana Rashtra Samithi president K Chandrasekhar Rao on Thursday rejected the Centre's reported move to go for a second State Reorganisation Commission on Telangana statehood issue and expressed helplessness if the agitation for the separate state took a violent turn.
Eighty-two Members of Andhra Pradesh assembly from Telangana region, belonging to five political parties, including ruling Congress and main Opposition Telugu Desam Party, on Thursday decided to resign in protest against the Centre putting the statehood issue on the backburner.
Hundreds of slogan-shouting students held a rally in the Osmania University campus in Hyderabad on Thursday and staged a demonstration in front of the nearby police station in support of statehood for Telangana. The heavy police force, comprising the anti-riot Rapid Action Force and other paramilitary forces, prevented the students from taking out a mock funeral procession of United Progressive Alliance leaders and stopped them in front of the OU police station.
Political crisis in Andhra Pradesh over the proposed Telangana statehood further deepened on Saturday with 20 ministers resigning for the cabinet.
Barring minor incidents, the 48-hour Telangana bandh called by the Telangana Rashtra Samithi demanding separate statehood for the region, remained largely peaceful on the second day on Monday.
Tension prevailed in parts of Hyderabad on Saturday following fresh attacks by students and Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) activists in their demand of separate statehood of Telengana.
The Supreme Court sought an explanation from the Andhra Pradesh government on Friday asking why it had deployed the elite anti-Naxalite force 'Greyhounds' to quell the students' unrest in Osmania University, the hotbed of Telangana statehood agitation.
Against the backdrop of a strong agitation for separate statehood, the ruling Congress and the major opposition Telugu Desam Party face a tough challenge in the coming bypolls to 12 assembly seats in Telangana region.
This assurance was given by home minister Amit Shah to a delegation of sarpanch and panch from Jammu and Kashmir who met him on Tuesday.
The Telangana Rashtra Samiti will never merge with any other party and will continue as the 'sole voice' of Telangana people even if statehood is granted to the region, party chief K Chandrasekhar Rao said on Tuesday. His remarks assume significance in the wake of comments by Telugu Desam Party leaders that Rao would merge TRS with the Congress in return for formation of a separate Telangana. He reiterated his decision to make a Dalit the chief minister.
Students of Osmania University in Hyderabad on Tuesday asked people to boycott New Year celebrations in support of the Telangana statehood demand."We urge people to boycott New Year celebrations to press the government to take immediate steps for the formation of Telangana state," student leaders said.They asserted that they will go ahead with the proposed massive students' convention on January 3.
Rallies, hunger strikes and demonstrations continued in Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh on Monday after the Joint Action Committee (JAC) intensified its agitation, mounting pressure on the Centre for a separate statehood.
Azad, the spokesperson of the Central Committee of the outlawed Communist Party of India - Maoist, said in a statement that a separate state of Telangana is an 'inalienable right' of the four crore people of the region. He called for a 'united militant mass struggle' against the 'fascist Congress regime' and the 'betrayers in various political garbs to achieve' a separate Telangana. The Maoist leader also slammed the Telangana Rashtra Samiti, saying it wasted five years.
The development amid the crisis in the state over the Telangana statehood issue triggered demands that the 86-year-old Governor resign or be dismissed and also protests by women activists outside the Raj Bhavan where security was beefed up after the private Telugu channel aired the footage.
Facing the heat from their constituents as well as fellow legislators, Andhra Pradesh ministers hailing from Telangana region on Thursday came forward to resign from their posts but Chief Minister K Rosaiah prevented them from doing so.
Normal life was paralysed across Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh on Thursday as the 48-hour bandh, called by the Telangana Rashtra Samiti and other parties to protest the Centre's decision to hold further consultations on the statehood issue, began with violence breaking out at some places. The shutdown call had an immediate impact as students and other Telangana supporters came on to the streets and resorted to stone pelting on buses and shops in Hyderabad.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah on Wednesday night welcomed Union Home Minister P Chidambaram's statement on the contentious Telangana statehood issue and said it should not be seen as either a victory or defeat for one region or the other.
In the wake of numerous demands emerging for separate statehood from various parts of the country, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday called for a meeting of all political parties to decide on the creation of smaller states. "There should be a meeting of all political parties to decide on the issue of creation of smaller states," senior BJP leader Vinay Katiyar told reporters outside the Parliament.
Key United Progressive Alliance ally Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and opposition Bharatiya Janata Party were on the same page on Sunday in their criticism of the Centre and the Congress over the handling of the Telangana statehood issue, which has spawned a crisis in Andhra Pradesh.
A demand for autonomy for three tribal-dominated districts of West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia in West Bengal was made on Saturday by a top Maoist leader, who also justified the Gorkhaland statehood issue.
"The Morcha has lost faith in tripartite talks. Our participation in the talks at Darjeeling is very much uncertain. We will take a decision after we get some feedback from Delhi on our demand for Gorkhaland on the lines of Telangana," the outfit's central committee member Harkabahadur Chetri told PTI over telephone from Kalimpong.
A group of students and professors from various universities in Andhra Pradesh have warned the state government not to backtrack on the Telangana promise.
Soon, KCR will realise that he will not be the next chief minister of Telangana, and a dyed in the wool Congressman will take that position. And there will still be room for another Congress CM in the truncated Andhra state.
The Centre's decision to carve out a separate Telangana state from Andhra Pradesh has given a much-needed boost to the proponents of a new Vidarbha state out of Maharashtra.
With the Centre conceding to the demand for a Telangana state bifurcating Andhra Pradesh, the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha on Thursday demanded for a separate 'Gorkhaland' should also be allowed and announced a three-day bandh in Darjeeling hills from December 14.
Gorkhaland supporters called for a bandh in Darjeeling for their own state, while Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Ajit Singh threatened to resume the agitation for a separate Harit Pradesh, as the planned statehood for Telangana sparked fresh demands to create new states.
Hyderabad is Telangana and Telangana is Hyderabad. There is no compromise on that. We don't have any conditions. All we want is Telangana with Hyderabad as its capital.
COVID-19 has propelled him into a place in the sun that he could only have hoped for.
The ties between the Telugu Desam Party and the Telangana Joint Action Committee came under strain on Monday with the latter alleging that the main opposition party has an ambivalent stand on the statehood demand.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh on Sunday said Naxalism will be eradicated from the state where there was no place for left extremism and terrorism.
Though the terms of reference of the committee to look into the creation of a Telangana state may come in the next few days, the Congress is worried about the 'political' price it may have to pay for moving too fast on the statehood issue.
Terming socialite Shobhaa De's tweet -- suggesting separate statehood for Mumbai -- as "frivolous", Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Thursday said the state will remain united.
KCR, as Rao is popularly known, was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor E S L Narasimhan at a simple ceremony on the lawns of Raj Bhavan.
The Delhi government also explored legal options, including filing contempt petition, against those who refused to comply with the directive, an official said.
With fresh violence over Telangana statehood in Andhra Pradesh, the Congress on Thursday indicated if things failed to normalise early, it would delay a solution to the vexed issue.
