Launching himself into the marathon walkathon at the age of 63, Naidu caused quite an anxiety to his family members and senior colleagues. He has faced several health problems and needed regular medical attention. His wife Bhuvaneswari, son Lokesh and other family members are very much worried about his health. It is learnt that Naidu is thinking of giving up the Yatra on January 26, giving it a grand finale on the occasion of the Republic Day.

A feeler to this extent was given by senior leader Kambhampati Rama Mohan Rao on Saturday. He said all the party men want Naidu to give up his yatra on January 26.  He said Naidu’s yatra and the tremendous response he got baffled other parties. He said the party would announce the future plan of Naidu’s pada yatra on January 1.

Election to the Rajya Sabha seat of the late union minister Vilas Rao Deshmukh from the Mumbai would be held on January 12. Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chauhan is trying to send his close aide Rohitdas Patil to Rajya Saha from that vacancy.

Meanwhile, the name of Nagma figured causing jitters in the Chief Minister’s camp. It is learnt that Maharashtra Congress affairs in-charge Mohan Prakash and some other leaders of the state have reportedly recommended the name of Nagma to the High Command. As Nagma is from Gujarat, she is likely to get the support of Sonia Gandhi’s adviser Ahmed Patel, who also hails from the state. One senior minister appears to be impressing that if Nagma was given Rajya Sabha membership, it would not only boost Congress chances in Gujarat, but also help gaining the support of Muslim women in Maharashtra and elsewhere. As Nagma has charisma in AP, Tamilnadu and Kerala, she could be used for campaign, her supporters are pointing out.

Nagma is a known Congress supporter. She tried for Lok Sabha ticket from Mumbai or some other northern state in 2009. Though she was denied ticket, she has campaigned for the Congress candidates in the Hindi and Bhojpuri areas of Mumbai. Some Congress leaders are arguing that she should be given ticket as she is a dedicated Congress supporter. However, some prominent leaders are trying to send Vilas Rao’s wife Vaisalini to the upper house. Rajini Patil, former minister Rohit Das Patil, former MLA Muzaffar Hussain and Suodh Mohite who has recently left Shiva Sena and joined Congress are some of the other contestants for the Rajya Sabha seat.

Delhi Police had charged the six accused, including a suspected juvenile, with rape. They later added the charge of attempt to murder.

This will now be converted into murder charge under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code, a police source told.

All six are presently in Delhi’s Tihar Central Jail. Police have said they were conducting tests to determine the age of one of the accused who claims he was not an adult.

The rapists hail mainly from a slum area in south Delhi. They coaxed the 23-year-old woman and her male friend to board the bus in Munirka in south Delhi Dec 16 night saying they were headed to Dwarka in west Delhi.

Once the bus began moving, they pounced on the woman and gang-raped her for some 40 minutes before dumping her on the roadside. She was also tortured with an iron rod when she put up stiff resistance.

Her friend was also thrown out of the bus and thrown out.

The bus passed through several key roads, even past Police Control Room vans. But since the bus windows were tinted and had their curtains drawn, no one could spot what was going on inside.

The two were discovered shivering and bleeding by a patrol of the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) who alerted the police.

While the friend was discharged soon after, the young woman remained in critical condition in Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital.

She was moved Thursday to Singapore where she passed away early Saturday at 2.15 a.m. IST.

Sri Lakshmi, accused in the OMC scam was given bail when she complained of backache and said she needed surgery. She was however directed not to leave the state. Recently she filed a petition seeking permission to go to Tamil Nadu for further treatment. On this, the court sought the opinion of the CBI, which said it had no objection.

However the agency’s deputy legal adviser said she should inform the court when she would go and return. On his, Judge Durga Prasada Rao directed the arrested officer’s counsel to submit a report on her health condition from the doctors and details of her visit to Tamil Nadu.

There is criticism instantaneously that the party picked up wrong candidates. Though Suresh Reddy is from Telangana, he was never active in the Telangana movement. Congress MPs of Telangana who fiercely fought on the issue were disappointed at the selection of Suresh Reddy who is also known as a very soft person. On the other hand, Gade Venkata Reddy is a strong opponent of state bifurcation. He has been very vocal in expressing his views. Even opposition parties are criticizing the ruling party that the very selection of its representatives gave clear evidence about it is insincerity.

Congress party has instructed the two representatives to reflect the ground level people’s views at the meeting. This would also mean that the two would give divergent views on the creation of the Telangana state.

At the same time, the sources clarified to the media in Delhi that the meeting was not to elicit opinions from the parties on the report submitted by Justice Srikrishna Committee, constituted to study the separate statehood demand.

“It is a fact the then home minister P. Chidambaram proposed all-party leaders’ meeting on the report of Justice Srikrishna, but that is a bygone issue. We intend to look at the whole Telangana issue afresh,” an official told the reporters.

“There is a change of guard in the home ministry, so the new minister desires to have a meeting to know the latest situation on Telangana. It is for the political party leaders to respond,” the sources said. Meanwhile an official in the ministry clarified to the media that only eight political parties were invited for the meeting, and the name of Lok Satta had been deleted from the invitees’ list since it is not a recognised political party by the Election Commission.

The YSR Congress was included in the list in the place of Praja Rajyam, which does not exist anymore, the sources said.