Hyderabad, October 30: Women and Child Welfare Minister Konda Surekha resigned from the Cabinet of K Rosaiah today, obviously certain that she would not be retained for long for her outspoken comments in favour of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy occupying the top post.
Having publicly declared more than once that she would not remain in the Cabinet if Rosaiah was to be continued as the Chief Minister and with the party high command indicating exactly that, Surekha was perhaps left with no option if she was to keep her word.
Surekha met Governor ND Tiwari at the Raj Bhavan in the evening and handed him over a six-page letter explaining why she had taken the decision to quit. She has, interestingly, chosen not to convey the same to the Chief Minister and even tried to shield Jagan Mohan Reddy saying he was not instrumental for her decision.
The Congress leadership appeared to be least perturbed by the development and Surekha’s resignation might, in all probability, be accepted by Rosaiah as and when it is referred to him by the Governor. “Resignations are not new to Congress,” was the cryptic response of Union Minister and AP affairs incharge Veerappa Moily. Nizamabad MP Madhu Yashki Goud, a known opponent of YS Rajasekhara Reddy, said Surekha had lost moral right to continue in the Cabinet and, therefore, nothing much needed to be read from today’s development.
Surekha had all along been demanding that Jagan Mohan Reddy be installed as the chief minister for smooth continuation of the welfare programmes his father, the late YS Rajasekhara Reddy, had initiated.
But her exit from the Cabinet evoked muted response with many reading it as an inevitable development. PCC chief D Srinivas said he has nothing to say on the matter and it was for Rosaiah to take a call.
Surekha tried to add a dramatic element to the whole episode. She reportedly sought an appointment with Governor ND Tiwari this morning and it was granted. Around 7 p.m. she drove down to Raj Bhavan and handed over a six-page letter explaining why she chose to quit.
But, till then she kept it a closely guarded secret.
But, at the end of it, nothing much happened with the rest of the ministers in Rosaiah’s Cabinet totally unconcerned and the high command dismissing it as a development that did not merit much attention.
As far as Surekha is concerned she appears to have weighed her options before deciding to put in her papers.
she did not have a chance to continue in the Cabinet after she had railed against the party leadership on the issue of Jagan Mohan Reddy not being made the CM. By quitting now she would at least appear to have made a big sacrifice for the sake of late YSR’s family and would stand to gain if and when Jagan Mohan Reddy becomes the chief minister.
In her letter and while speaking to mediapersons, Surekha said she did not want to continue in Rosaiah’s cabinet from Day One but sailed along with him on the advice of the late YSR’s close aide and Rajya Sabha member KVP Ramchandra Rao who told her that by quitting she would not be doing any benefit to Jagan Mohan Reddy. “Heeding Ramchandra Rao’s advice, I stayed on,” Surekha told newsmen after emerging from Raj Bhavan.
She made it clear that none had directed her to quit the minister’s post and that she had taken the decision on her own volition. She said she felt suffocated in Rosaiah’s cabinet.
“My leader was YS Rajasekhara Reddy and because of him only the Congress came back to life in the State. This is the reason why I want Jagan Mohan to become the chief minister after Rajasekhara Reddy’s death,” she said.
Asked whether she would reconsider her decision to quit if the party high command directed her, Surekha said she would first explain her feelings to the party leadership on the failure to convene Congress Legislature Party meeting to pay condolences to YSR and make Jagan as CM. “If I am satisfied with the high command’s views then I will decide (on resignation). I think my resignation will put pressure on the high command,” she noted.
–Agencies