The Hindu : Front Page : 20 A.P. Ministers plan to quit

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Sunday, Dec 13, 2009
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20 A.P. Ministers plan to quit

HYDERABAD: The political crisis in Andhra Pradesh took a serious turn on Saturday when 20 Ministers from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema decided, in principle, to tender their resignations as they were unable to face their constituents who are angry with the Centre’s decision on Telangana.

Sixteen Ministers from the two regions met in a city hotel to take stock of the situation arising out of the widespread demonstrations in 13 districts and decided that all members of the Cabinet quit in an expression of solidarity with the MLAs and MLCs who put in their papers earlier. They plan to meet Chief Minister K. Rosaiah in a day or two and hand over their resignations.

Three Ministers — Gade Venkat Reddy, Dharmana Prasada Rao and Shilpa Mohan Reddy — called on Mr. Rosaiah at the Secretariat and informed him of their determination to step down. Mr. Rosaiah reportedly appealed to them not to complicate the situation further and meet him again in the evening. Mr. Rosaiah explained that the AICC leaders had assured him that no further step would be taken on Telangana until normality was restored.

The Ministers said they were hurt by the Centre’s unilateral decision which was at variance with the announcement by the then Chief Minister, Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, in February this year that the Congress was not against a separate Telangana, but it would take a decision after considering the objections of all stakeholders. Moreover, there was tremendous pressure to join the agitation in support of a unified Andhra Pradesh.

Upset at these developments, Ministers from Telangana are meeting on Sunday to consider whether they should quit.

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