JOIN USAt least four Members of Parliament (MPs) from the Seemandhra region on Monday submitted their resignations to the Lok Sabha secretariat afresh, within days of Speaker Meira Kumar rejecting their August 2 decision to quit the House.
The trickle of resignations began on Monday afternoon, with Vijaywada MP Lagadapati Rajagopal submitting his resignation to Lok Sabha Secretary-General S Bal Shekhar.
Soon after, A Sai Prathap (Rajampet) and Sabbam Hari (Anakapalle) met Shekhar and submitted their resignations. Aruna Kumar Vundavalli (Rajahmundry) sent his resignation through his assistant.
On Friday, the Speaker rejected the resignations of 13 leaders from the Seemandhra region, who had quit their Lok Sabha seats in August after the July 30 decision of the Congress Working Committee to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh.
Rajagopal had also moved the Delhi High Court seeking a direction to the speaker to accept his resignation. He said he would personally meet the speaker on Tuesday to urge her to accept his resignation. “I would like to personally meet her and convey that there is no pressure on me, and that I have taken this decision on my own and with full consciousness,” he said.
All India Congress Committee general secretary in-charge of Andhra Pradesh Digvijay Singh sought to assure the Seemandhra leaders that they would get the best possible deal after the bifurcation.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy’s remarks that he would stop the “bifurcation cyclone” drew flak from the party.
Congress spokesman Sandeep Dikshit said no chief minister can stop the formation of a new state, as the power to create a new state rests with the Centre.
However, Congress sources indicated that the party may not take any action against Reddy as it understands that the remarks were made in light of the situation in the Seemandhra region.