Raman confirms minister's resignation

By Staff
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Google Oneindia News

Raipur, Jan 25 (UNI) Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh today confirmed the resignation of his finance minister Amar Agrawal saying that a decision on it would be taken by this evening.

''I have received the letter. It states that he is resigning due to some unavoidable circumstances'', Dr Singh told newsmen at Raj Bhawan after the swearing in ceremony of new Governor E S L Narasimhan.

''I am consulting senior party leaders, including the BJP central leadership over the issue'', Mr Singh said, adding ''You will come to know the fate of his resignation by this evening''.

Asked about the reasons that led to the resignation, the Chief Minister said since Mr Agrawal had mentioned that it was due to some unavoidable circumstances, it could be ''anything from workload to family problems''.

Mr Agrawal, son of BJP veteran and former Rajya Sabha member Lakhiram Agrawal, had handed over his resignation letter to state BJP General Secretary Ram Pratap Singh yesterday and immediately left for his home town Bilaspur.

When contacted by UNI over phone, Mr Agrawal had neither confirmed nor denied reports about his resignation saying that only the chief minister was competent to do so. He did not elaborate.

The Chief Minister also did not confirm the minister's resignation yesterday saying that the party's general secretary had 'received an envelope and he was aware of its contents'.

Meanwhile, party sources said Mr Agrawal's resignation from the council of ministers came after a section of leaders blamed him for the BJP candidate's defeat in the Kota assembly by-election where Congress nominee Mrs Renu Jogi, wife of former chief minister Ajit Jogi, won by an impressive margin of more than 22,000 votes.

They also claimed that the finance minister was also under attack from a group of ministers and legislators as files related to fund allocation and development initiative were being either withheld or delayed in the finance department. Mr Agrawal's detractors also blamed him for having lost grip on finance department bureaucrats, who, they alleged, were delaying files on illogical and lame excuses.

UNI

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