Thaindian News

Hyderabad, May 31 (IANS) An Andhra Pradesh cabinet minister Tuesday submitted his resignation to the governor over the delay in carving out a separate Telangana state.

Endowments Minister J. Krishna Rao, who had sent his resignation to Congress president Sonia Gandhi March 3, met Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan at Raj Bhavan and submitted his resignation.

He later told reporters that he had fulfilled his promise made to the students of Osmania University by submitting his resignation.

“I have resigned as the Congress leadership has failed to make a clear-cut announcement for formation of separate Telangana state,” he said.

The minister later met Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy to explain the reasons for his decision.

He demanded that all the ministers and legislators from Telangana resign to exert pressure on the leadership to accord separate statehood to the region.

He also announced that he would resume his ‘padyatra’ for the separate state on Wednesday and cautioned the government against making any attempt to stop it.

The minister’s ‘padyatra’ in Mahabubnagar district May 21 had sparked a row with the police arresting him and his cabinet colleague D.K. Aruna to avert a clash between them.

Aruna opposed the ‘padyatra’ saying the minister had not taken her permission to undertake the visit in her constituency.

Krishna Rao has resigned at a time when Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC), comprising various pro-Telangana groups, plans to intensify the agitation in the first week of June.