Hyderabad, Dec 13 (IANS) Ministers and Members of Parliament of Congress party from Telangana region Sunday decided not to resign to counter the resignations of their counterparts from other regions of the state.
They appealed to ministers and MPs from Andhra and Rayalaseema regions to abide by the party president Sonia Gandhi’s decision to initiate the process for formation of separate Telangana state.

“We will not resign as the decision has come in our favour,” Minister for Information and Public Relations J. Geeta Reddy told reporters Sunday night after the meeting.

They also appealed to the people and leaders of the other regions to maintain peace and recalled that they never resorted to violence during the movement for separate state.

The ministers and MPs thanked Sonia Gandhi for her decision. “We thanked Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress core committee for meeting the long-pending demand of the people of Telangana,” she said.

They urged ministers, MPs and state legislators from Andhra and Rayalaseema regions to abide by the party’s decision. “The Congress Legislature Party meeting and the all party meeting had authorised Sonia Gandhi to take the decision and hence we should all abide by it,” said MP Sarve Satyanarayana.

Geeta Reddy condemned the incidents of protesters in Andhra tearing the posters of Sonia and said they would not tolerate any attempt to insult her.