Twenty Ministers from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema stuck to their decision to quit the Rosaiah Cabinet but resolved to wait till Monday when all of them will meet in the Assembly and call on the Chief Minister.
Ministers hailing from these two regions held a meeting for the second successive day on Sunday while those from Telangana rallied together for the first time and sent a letter to AICC president Sonia Gandhi hailing the Centre’s decision on initiating the process of formation of Telangana.
After these meetings, the Ministers from the two regions separately met the Chief Minister at his residence in the evening and explained their respective stands.
A day after Ministers from the Andhra region decided in principle to step down, they announced during an hour-long meeting at the Ministers’ Club House in the City that there was no change in their decision.
Only 13 of the 20 Ministers were present. They said that after taking stock of the situation, their resignations were the only way to draw attention to and protest against the unilateral decision taken by the Centre.
Appeal for restraint
Briefing reporters, Municipal Administration Minister Anam Ramanarayan Reddy said the three Ministers — Gade Venkat Reddy, Shilpa Mohan Reddy and Dharmana Prasada Rao — briefed them about their interaction with Mr. Rosaiah on Saturday and his appeal to them to observe restraint.
Seven Ministers could not attend the meeting as they were away in their constituencies. All of the Ministers would attend the Assembly, which is now holding its winter session, he said.
“As of today, the stalemate continues and we stand by our decision to quit the Cabinet,” Mr. Ramanarayan Reddy later told The Hindu. It is understood that the Ministers were apprehensive of the adverse reaction from their constituents, who were in favour of a unified State, if they dropped their move to quit the Cabinet.
Meanwhile, 11 Ministers and 10 MPs from Telangana, who met at the residence of Minister for Information Technology K. Venkat Reddy, in their letter to Ms. Sonia Gandhi expressed their gratitude for the Centre’s decision on Telangana, which, they said, had helped in fulfilling the dream of more than three crore people.
“We assure our unstinted support to your leadership”, the letter added.
