By IANS,
Hyderabad : The political crisis in Andhra Pradesh over the Telangana issue deepened further Friday as all ministers from the region resigned enmasse.
All 13 ministers from Hyderabad and nine other districts of the region sent their resignations to Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
After a meeting with Chief Minister K. Rosaiah at the state secretariat, Minister for Major Irrigation Ponnala Lakshmaiah told reporters that they had communicated their decision to the chief minister and also to state Congress chief D. Srinivas.
The ministers sent a joint resignation letter to Sonia Gandhi, saying that the recent statement by the central government over the Telangana issue lacked clarity and had led to confusion among people.
“The chief minister requested us to reconsider our decision but we told them that Telangana is more important for us than the ministerial posts. The Dec 23 statement has hurt us as the centre did not specify any time-frame for formation of Telangana state,” Lakshmaiah said.
The ministers also resigned from the assembly amid mounting public pressure on all legislators and MPs to resign.
Hours before the decision of the ministers, protesters attacked Lakshmaiah’s house in Warangal following rumours that he was reluctant to quit.
“The statement lacked clarity, created confusion and led to outburst from all sections of society,” another minister J. Krishna Rao said. The ministers also included P. Sabita Indra Reddy, who holds the key portfolio of home.
It was not clear if the ministers would stop discharging their official duties and they refused to answer questions. Political observers said if the ministers stay away from discharging their duties, governance may collapse.
With the resignation of the ministers from Telangana, the strength of the state cabinet will be reduced to 21.
As many as 64 legislators – cutting across political lines – have so far submitted their resignations to the assembly speaker. There are 119 members from Telangana in the 294-member assembly.