Telangana rumblings: 4 mantris relent as Digvijay Singh steps in

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Hyderabad: It was raining resignations on Friday. Ten Congress MPs and four Telugu Desam MPs handed in their resignation to protest the division of the state.
Four of the nine Union ministers belonging to the Seemandhra region also met AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh on Friday to offer their resignations.
But on receiving an assurance from Mr Singh that a high-power committee will be constituted soon to address all the issues relating to bifurcation of the state, the four withheld their resignations. The four Union ministers are M.M. Pallam Raju, D. Purandeswari, Killi Kriparani and J.D. Seelam.
Next: MPs submit resignations to officers

MPs submit resignations to officers
DC
Hyderabad: The MPs were not easily mollified. Ten Congress MPs including one Rajya Sabha MP, Dr K.V.P. Ramachandra Rao, submitted their resignations at the respective offices of the Parliament presiding officers.
In a related development, four TD Seemandhra MPs, two from the Lok Sabha and two from the Rajya Sabha also announced that they were quitting their posts in protest at the unilateral announcement on division of the state.
Mr Y.S. Chowdary, Mr C.M. Ramesh (Rajya Sabha), and Mr M. Venugopal Reddy (Narasaraopet), and Mr K. Narayana Rao (Machilipa-tnam) declared that they will quit as the division is going to create problems for the Seemandhra region.
Surprisingly, Mr Nandamuri Harikrishna, TD Rajya Sabha member and son of the late NTR, in an open letter released to the media on Friday, said that with much pain he is accepting the division of the state as it has been a popular demand of one region.
The 10 Congress MPs from Seemandhra region who quit in Parliament are: A. Sai Prathap (Rajampet), Anantha Venkatarami Reddy (Anantapur), G.V. Harsha Kumar (Amalapuram), Vundavalli Arun Kumar (Rajahmundry), Lagadapati Rajagopal (Vijayawada), S.P.Y. Reddy (Nandyal), Rayapati Sambasiva Rao (Guntur), Magunta Srinivasa Reddy (Ongole) and Sabbam Hari (Anakapalle) all from the Lok Sabha.
Dr K.V.P. Ramachandra Rao, was the Rajya Sabha MP who quit. Coming out of Parliament after giving in their resignations the MPs said that Union ministers from Seemandhra would meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Saturday and tender their resignations.
However, with four ministers seeming to be satisfied with the assurances of Mr Digvijay Singh, and another five ministers from the region — Mr K.S. Rao, Mr Kishore Chandra Deo, Mr Chiranjeevi, Ms Panabaka Laxmi and Mr Kotla Surya Prakash Reddy — not showing much interest in quitting, it is doubtful if any resignations will be tendered by Union ministers.
The MPs also said they had sought an appointment with Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, who has to accept their resignations and be satisfied that they have taken the step of their own free will and not under duress.
The resignations of the MPs came a day after Congress Union ministers and some MPs from Andhra Pradesh held a meeting at the residence of Mr  Ramachandra Rao.
At the meeting, the Union ministers are understood to have counselled the MPs not to resign saying that after the formation of Telangana, the focus would be on Andhra’s future development.
However, the MPs felt that the situation had not yet gone beyond control and by tendering their resignations they could force the government to hold back its decision. Though at the meeting the MPs convinced the four Union ministers to join them and resign, the four ministers backed out the next day.