Huge protests were staged this evening at the Prime Minister's home ahead of a Cabinet meeting where major steps are expected to be taken in the process of carving out a separate Telangana state from Andhra Pradesh. The demonstrators want a 'United Andhra'. All districts of Andhra Pradesh, including Hyderabad, have been put on alert.
Here are 10 developments in this story:
The Cabinet will review a note prepared by the Home Ministry that outlines the plan for how Andhra Pradesh will be bifurcated.
Sources said as originally shared by the government, Hyderabad will be a shared capital between the old and new states for the next 10 years, after which it will belong to Telangana. Who gets to keep the prosperous IT hub has been a major headline of the controversial decision by the centre to make Telangana India's 29th state.
The two other regions of Andhra Pradesh - Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra, referred to as "Seemandhra" - are bitterly opposed to the division of the state.
The Cabinet will adopt a resolution on the creation of Telangana, which will then be sent to President Pranab Mukherjee, with the recommendation that he refer it to the Andhra Pradesh state legislature.
In Hyderabad, ministers from Seemandhra are gathering at the home of Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy to protest against the cabinet's plans. Mr Reddy also belongs to Seemandhra.
Though the Andhra Pradesh Assembly is meant to provide feedback on the resolution, the Centre is not obliged to accept its opinion.
A group of Union ministers will be assigned to figure out, in consultation with local leaders, how to divide water, power and revenue between the two states.
The cabinet includes three ministers from Seemandhra - Kavuri Sambasiva Rao, Pallam Raju and Kishore Chandra Deo. Jaipal Reddy is the only cabinet minister from Telangana and he has strongly supported the plan to make it a state.
The Congress has confronted serious dissent from its own leaders from Seemandhra. The party has sey up a committee with four members, headed by Defence Minister AK Antony, to gather and address the concerns of local stake-holders.
Leaders from both Seemandhra and Telangana have met the committee and presented their views.
