Samaikyandhra supporters want Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy to continue in his post and not resign at this juncture since he is playing the lead role in fighting against bifurcation, said MP Lagadapati Rajagopal.
At a press conference here on Saturday, Mr. Rajagopal said that the Chief Minister was convinced of the need for his resignation, but since there was still scope to stop the Bill, he was asked to hold on to the post to give moral support to the integrationists.
Asked whether the Chief Minister was contemplating launching a new party, Mr. Rajagopal dodged the question by saying, “Mr. Kiran Kumar Reddy is aware of the responsibility he has to take care of his supporters, who are blindly following him for the cause of a unified State.”
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The MP asserted that there were several options to stop the process of bifurcation even at this juncture and hoped that good sense would prevail on the President of India, who has to exercise his discretion in dealing with the A.P Reorganisation Bill.
“People of Seemandhra are looking to the President with the hope that he will not simply nod his head to whatever the Parliament wants him to do. There is onus on the BJP also to reject the Bill in view of its implications for the entire country,” Mr. Rajagopal observed.
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He said while the BJP was sympathetic to bifurcation, there were many in its ranks opposed to the way in which the process was being carried forward.
Almost all non-BJP parties are critical of the process of bifurcation, he observed.