Six Seemandhra ministers quit over Telangana

Hyderabad, Oct 4: Six central ministers from

region have resigned to protest the union cabinet's decision to create a separate

state.

Minister of Textiles K.S. Rao and Minister of Human Resource Development Pallam Raju, who were present at Thursday's cabinet meeting, resigned later in the night. Ministers of State K. Chiranjeevi and Kotla Suryaprakash Reddy also announced their resignations.

D. Purandeswari and K. Krupa Rani Friday said they too were resigning to protest the cabinet decision to create a separate Telangana state. Suryaprakash Reddy is from Rayalaseema while the other ministers are from coastal Andhra.

Chiranjeevi faxed his resignation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, sources in the Congress party said. Other ministers said they have resigned, but there is no confirmation if they sent their resignation letters to the prime minister.

Six central ministers from Seemandhra region have resigned to protest

Pallam Raju called the prime minister immediately after the cabinet meeting to convey his decision to quit. Manmohan Singh advised him not to act in haste.

Four Congress MPs V. Arun Kumar, Ananta Venkatarami Reddy, A. Sai Pratap and Sabbam Hari also resigned Thursday. They also announced they are resigning from the primary membership of the party.

Three other central ministers from coastal Andhra and more MPs may resign Friday due to the mounting pressure from the people who are opposed to the state's division.

IANS