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.
The Delhi government also explored legal options, including filing contempt petition, against those who refused to comply with the directive, an official said.
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.
Iraqi PM said the destruction of the sites was 'an official declaration of defeat' from the jihadists.
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.
AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal also challenged the BJP to announce its chief ministerial candidate by 1 pm Wednesday and said he is ready for a public debate with him.
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.
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.
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.
The Defence Minister said it has been decided to give women permanent commission in the Army, Navy and the Air Force like their male counterparts.
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.
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.
The Congress top brass late Thursday night assured its agitating legislators of Andhra Pradesh that "no whip" will be issued to vote in favour of a separate statehood resolution, if and when it comes in the Assembly.
"We will build public pressure on the government so that they start the process for a separate Telangana state. The people will not allow creating deliberate disturbance to stop statehood for Telangana," Kishenji told PTI.
In a show of unity on the demand for Telangana, all Congress Members of Parliament from the region on Wednesday night requested party chief Sonia Gandhi to accord a separate state to honour sentiments of the people there. In a letter to Gandhi, 15 MPs including 11 from the Lok Sabha and four from the Rajya Sabha asked her to accord separate statehood for Telangana, considering the earlier promises made by the party, including in the poll manifesto.
Mahesh Vijapurkar says the indiscriminate use of force during police lathi-charges must stop.
The Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) today refused to be drawn into the expulsion of Darjeeling MP Jaswant Singh from BJP, saying the development would not affect its movement for Gorkhaland statehood.
The man who made the 50-year-old dream of Telangana come true was in tears when the good news broke. K Chandrasekhara Rao broke down remembering all those who had laid down their lives for the statehood during the long struggle.
Intensifying their efforts for statehood to Gorkhaland, leaders of Gorkha Janmmukti Morcha on Tuesday met Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil and urged him to take initiative for tripartite talks. "We have submitted a map of Gorkhaland to the home minister and urged him to take the initiative for tripartite talks comprising the Centre, the West Bengal government and the GJM," Morcha general secretary Roshan Giri told reporters after meeting Patil.
