Chief Minister K. Rosaiah’s government in Andhra Pradesh appeared to be on the brink of another crisis as 20 Ministers from Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions have announced their intentions to resign from the Cabinet.
These Ministers held confabulations in a star hotel in the city on Saturday afternoon after which they deputed three of their colleagues — Gade Venkata Reddy, Dharmana Prasada Rao and Silpa Mohan Reddy — to convey their intentions to the Chief Minister. Mr. Rosaiah is learnt to have informed the party leadership about the decision and has decided to wait for instructions from the high command.
Municipal Administration Minister Anam Ramanarayana Reddy told journalists there was pressure on the Ministers to resign in the wake of en masse resignations by MLAs and MLCs and to join the ongoing struggle for a united Andhra Pradesh. “People from out districts, particularly the MLAs who resigned, are asking us to follow suit and we have communicated our decision to the Chief Minister,” he said.
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The Chief Minister is learnt to have advised the Ministers against putting in their papers. This would not be appropriate since the party high command had given an assurance that it would not hurt the sentiments of the people of other regions even though it had announced that the process for the formation of separate Telangana had been initiated.