Seemandhra was on Friday rocked by protests and shutdown as some central ministers and MPs from Andhra Pradesh announced their resignation to protest against the cabinet approval for the formation of a separate Telangana state.
HRD Minister MM Pallam Raju, who on Thursday held back his resignation, announced his decision to go ahead with it ignoring Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s counsel not to take any hasty step.
Kotla Surya Prakash Reddy, MoS Railways and son of late Rayalaseema stalwart K Vijayabhaskar Reddy, also said he met the Prime Minister and gave his resignation. Singh advised him against taking any “emotional step”, according to him.
Other Ministers K Sambasiva Rao (Textiles), K Chiranjeevi (Tourism), D Purandeswari (MoS Commerce) and Killi Kruparani (MoS IT and Communications) are also understood to have resigned, according to their aides.
Congress MPs, who had already resigned from the Lok Sabha on Telangana issue, have now threatened to quit the party. They include R Sambasiva Rao, Ananta Venkatarami Reddy, Sabbam Hari and Vundavali Arun Kumar.
At a press conference in Delhi, Sambasiva Rao accused the Congress of doing injustice to Telugus and even praised BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.