Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan has accepted the resignations submitted by Home Minister P. Sabitha Indra Reddy and Roads & Buildings Minister Dharmana Prasada Rao.
The two Ministers tendered their papers after their names figured in the charge-sheets filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation which is probing YSR Congress president Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy’s disproportionate assets case. The resignations came in the light of the party high command’s decision to axe those facing corruption/criminal charges.
The Congress leadership took a tough stand against those facing charges after the Karnataka election results where it claimed people voted against corruption. Mr. Dharmana’s name figured in the CBI charge-sheet on irregularities in allotment of vast tracts of land to VANPIC project while the premier investigation agency found lapses in the grant of prospecting licences to Dalmia Cements when Ms. Sabitha was the Mines Minister.
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The two Ministers, accordingly, submitted their paper to Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy a week ago and the Chief Minister forwarded the letters to the Governor for his assent. The Governor, according to Raj Bhavan sources, examined the issue and took the decision on Sunday morning.
Even as the resignations were accepted, Congress leaders are apprehending that names of few other Ministers were likely to figure in the charge-sheets in the coming days.