Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Panabaka Lakshmi said on Saturday that though she was disappointed over the Centre’s decision to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh, she would not quit her post.
After participating in a function to mark the sale of five-kg LPG cooking gas cylinders through petrol bunks, Ms. Lakshmi, who represents Bapatla constituency of Guntur district, told reporters that the Congress high command decided on the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh to create Telangana State only after getting letters from various political leaders.
“Telangana is a sensitive issue. I appeal to the people of Andhra Pradesh to remain calm. I am disappointed with the happenings, but I have no choice,” she said.
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On the question of whether she would follow some of her Cabinet colleagues from Andhra Pradesh, Ms. Lakshmi said that as a ‘loyal’ worker of the Congress, she would abide by the decision of her party’s president and she would not quit. “If others have resigned, it is their choice,” Ms. Lakshmi said.
When pointed out that some of the political leaders including YSR Congress Party president Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy and others had gone on a fast opposing the bifurcation, she said: “This is not correct. People are watching the events. There is no need to bluff. It is a political stunt.”