A day after Andhra Pradesh Women Development and Child Welfare Minister Konda Surekha tendered her resignation from the Cabinet, questions are being raised about the real reasons that prompted her to quit the Ministry.
While Ms. Surekha claimed that she was unable to continue in the post in the absence of YSR, loyalists of the former Chief Minister attributed her decision to ‘intensified efforts’ by a section of Congress leaders to keep Kadapa MP Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy out of contention for the Chief Minister’s post.
Governor N.D. Tiwari accepted the resignation on Friday on the advice of Chief Minister K. Rosaiah. Talking to reporters, the Chief Minister said he had recommended acceptance of the resignation as Ms. Surekha claimed she was undergoing “mental agony” ever since YSR’s demise.
But supporters of Mr. Jagan point out that the call given by the Cabinet and APCC president D. Srinivas on Thursday for ‘collective action’ in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, ‘sidelining’ Mr. Jagan and YSR’s close aide K.V.P. Ramachandra Rao was the main reasons behind her resignation. These supporters, including some Ministers, claim that names of Mr. Jagan and Dr. Ramachandra Rao did not figure in the discussions in the Cabinet while Mr. Srinivas, at a separate press conference, evaded replies on queries about Mr. Jagan’s role in the election campaign.
A few other Ministers and MLAs were reportedly considering the option to exit for mounting pressure on the high command to give “due importance” to Mr. Jagan in the State politics. But they withheld the move fearing it would send wrong signals to the party leadership and further affect Mr. Jagan’s prospects. Home Minister Sabitha Indra Reddy said several Ministers were prepared to quit if it would, indeed, benefit him. “This is an issue concerning Mr. Jagan’s future, but it also involves the party’s prestige,” she said.
