Vice-President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari on Thursday did not accept the resignation letter faxed to him by Rajya Sabha member of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) Gundu Sudharani, as it was “not in the proper format.”
With regard to the letter of resignation submitted by Congress member K. Keshava Rao, sources said the issue was still under examination as the member failed to appear before the Chairman despite sending reminders because under the rule, it was mandatory to elicit from the member whether he was doing so voluntarily.
Reason cited
Ms. Sudharani and Mr. Keshava Rao, in July this year, had declared that they were quitting their RS membership protesting the UPA-II government's failure to give the green signal for the formation of separate Telangana.
Meanwhile, Congress Lok Sabha member from Bhongir, K. Rajagopal Reddy, who also had resigned his membership claiming that he was doing so for the cause of Telangana, appeared before Speaker Meira Kumar for a personal enquiry. He later told journalists that he would continue to fight for Telangana and there was no question of going back. But he refused to state whether he insisted on acceptance of his letter by the Speaker or withdrew it.
Sources said the “resignation letters” of K. Rajagopal Reddy and another Congress MP (Nellore), Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy, were still under the consideration of the Speaker and the decision on them was likely to be taken before the commencement of the Parliament session on November 22.
Rajamohan's protest
Mr. Rajamohan Reddy reportedly wanted to quit his Lok Sabha seat, protesting the inclusion of the name of former Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy in the FIR by the CBI against YSR Congress president Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy for allegedly possessing disproportionate assets.
Earlier on Tuesday, Ms. Meira Kumar turned down the “resignation letters” of 12 MPs from Andhra Pradesh – eight from the Congress and two each from the TDP and the TRS – for various reasons. These MPs too wanted to quit the Lower House for the cause of Telangana.
