JOIN USCrisis worsens for Rosaiah
At a meeting here, 20 ministers from the two regions decided to submit their resignations to Chief Minister K Rosaiah. Minister for Municipal Administration Anam Ramnarayana Reddy told reporters that they would meet Rosaiah to convey their decision and submit their resignations.
“There is pressure on us from the people to join the movement for a united Andhra Pradesh. Hence, we have decided to quit,” he said amid the growing unrest in the two regions. Three ministers later met the chief minister and conveyed their decision to him. Rosaiah, however, advised them against taking a hasty decision.
A visibly upset Rosaiah told reporters at the state Secretariat that Minister for Revenue Dharmana Prasada Rao and Minister for Home Sabita Indra Reddy were designated to speak to the ministers.
High command
Rosaiah, who had taken over as chief minister on September 3 after the death of Y S Rajasekhara Reddy in a helicopter crash, is now looking at the Congress central leadership to resolve the crisis, triggered by the decision of the Centre to bifurcate the state.
Earlier, talking to a television channel, Rosaiah said he was “anguished” over the statement of Union Home Minister P Chidambaram that a resolution for forming Telangana state would be moved in the state assembly.
He said despite his apprehensions over the issue, the Central government had gone ahead with the announcement.
Resolution
Rosaiah also ruled out moving the resolution in the current winter session of the Assembly.
“I can’t assure you that the resolution will be passed because the number is most important. Cutting across party lines, the agitation will take a turn,” he said.
Rosaiah, who heads a 34-member cabinet, is from the coastal Andhra region and is a member of the Legislative Council.
The state cabinet is divided over the issue, with 13 ministers from the Telangana region holding a separate meeting to discuss their future course of action amid demands from various quarters that the legislators and ministers from Telangana should also resign to protest against ‘blackmailing’ by their counterparts. Minister for Information Technology K Venkatrama Reddy from Telangana said if the state “is put under President’s rule,” the ministers and legislators from Andhra and Rayalaseema would be responsible. About 130 legislators, including 76 from the Congress, have submitted their resignations to the Assembly speaker. Opposition TDP and Praja Rajyam Party legislators have also quit. The Speaker is yet to accept the resignations. In the 294-member Assembly, 175 members come from the Andhra and Rayalaseema regions and 119 from Telangana.