Telangana crisis: 7 Andhra Cong MPs put in papers
3 Aug 2013 11:59 PM GMT
The tremors caused by the decision of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) to form the state of Telangana are now being felt within the Congress party itself. On Friday, seven MPs from Andhra Pradesh put resigned from Parliament, sending shock waves through the party brass. The government, however, was saved from a major embarrassment as four central ministers, who had offered to quit previously, stepped back from their decision.
The four union ministers – human resource development minister Pallam Raju and Ministers of State Purandeswari, JD Seelam and Killi Kruparani – too had offered to resign from their positions, but they were later persuaded by Congress general secretary and in-charge of Andhra Pradesh Digvijaya Singh to meet the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday.
Upset over the party’s decision taken on Tuesday, seven Congress MPs and four union ministers from Andhra and Rayalaseema regions had held meetings on Thursday night to evolve strategy against formation of Telangana.
The seven MPs – six Lok Sabha members and a Rajya Sabha member – went to Parliament on Friday morning and submitted their resignations. The Lok Sabha members who put in their papers are – A Sai Prathap (Rajampet constituency), Anantha Venkatarami Reddy (Anantapur) CV Harsha Kumar (Amalapuram-SC), Vundavalli Arun Kumar (Rajahmundry), Lagadapati Rajagopal (Vijayawada) and S P Y Reddy (Nandyal). They submitted their resignations to Lok Sabha Secretary General T K Vishwanathan.
The MPs said that three more Lok Sabha members from the state -- Sabbam Hari (Anakapalli), Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy (Ongole) and Rayapati Sambasiva Rao (Guntur) have also faxed their resignations. Congress has 31 members in the House from Andhra Pradesh. Rajya Sabha member KVP Ramachandra Rao tendered his resignation to Rajya Sabha Secretary General Shamsher K Sheriff. A high level panel would be set up to address concerns of Andhra.
The four union ministers – human resource development minister Pallam Raju and Ministers of State Purandeswari, JD Seelam and Killi Kruparani – too had offered to resign from their positions, but they were later persuaded by Congress general secretary and in-charge of Andhra Pradesh Digvijaya Singh to meet the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday.
Upset over the party’s decision taken on Tuesday, seven Congress MPs and four union ministers from Andhra and Rayalaseema regions had held meetings on Thursday night to evolve strategy against formation of Telangana.
The seven MPs – six Lok Sabha members and a Rajya Sabha member – went to Parliament on Friday morning and submitted their resignations. The Lok Sabha members who put in their papers are – A Sai Prathap (Rajampet constituency), Anantha Venkatarami Reddy (Anantapur) CV Harsha Kumar (Amalapuram-SC), Vundavalli Arun Kumar (Rajahmundry), Lagadapati Rajagopal (Vijayawada) and S P Y Reddy (Nandyal). They submitted their resignations to Lok Sabha Secretary General T K Vishwanathan.
The MPs said that three more Lok Sabha members from the state -- Sabbam Hari (Anakapalli), Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy (Ongole) and Rayapati Sambasiva Rao (Guntur) have also faxed their resignations. Congress has 31 members in the House from Andhra Pradesh. Rajya Sabha member KVP Ramachandra Rao tendered his resignation to Rajya Sabha Secretary General Shamsher K Sheriff. A high level panel would be set up to address concerns of Andhra.
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