President's Rule likely

 Andhra Pradesh may be headed for President’s Rule after the resignation of chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy in protest against the Lok Sabha nod to the bill to bifurcate the state.

Congress leaders said appointing a new chief minister may not be required since the state is heading for elections along with Lok Sabha in May.

Further, they also believed appointing a new chief minister could attract criticism since the AP Reorganisation Bill is yet to be cleared by Rajya Sabha.

“If the new chief minister is from Seemandhra, Telangana people would criticise or vice versa. The state is headed for President’s Rule,” a senior Congress leader said. Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde refused to comment on the next course of action in Andhra Pradesh when asked about the chief minister’s resignation.

“A decision to create the state of Telangana by dividing Andhra has been taken. He was opposed to it. What other option did he have,” Shinde asked.

Reddy on Wednesday quit the Congress and resigned as Chief Minister and MLA, a day after the Lok Sabha passed the Telangana bill.

He had been relentlessly opposing the Centre's decision to carve out a separate state of Telangana.

Congress leaders contend that Central rule in Andhra Pradesh would make things easier for the UPA government to go through the process of bifurcation once the Telangana Bill is approved by Parliament.