Infrastructure Minister Komatireddi Venkatreddy resigned from the state Cabinet on Saturday, citing the failure of the Congress High Command in making an announcement on the formation of a Telangana state. He also resigned from his Assembly membership.
Accompanied with Bhongir MP and his brother K Rajagopala Reddy, and Nakrekal MLA Chirumarti Lingaiah, the minister went to Raj Bhavan and submitted his resignation to Governor E S L Narasimhan.
Later, he proceeded to the Legislative Assembly to submit his resignation from the post of MLA.
Komatireddi had announced that he would resign from his posts if the Centre fails to announce a favourable decision on separate Telangana. He was among
12 Telangana ministers who submitted their resignations from the MLA post, along with other legislators from the region, on 4 July. However, their resignations were rejected by Speaker Nadendla Manohar.
Although other ministers resumed their duties and also attended the Cabinet meeting, Komatireddi neither participated in the Cabinet meeting nor attended other official duties.
After submitting his resignation to Assembly Secretary Raja Sadaram, Komatireddi went to Gun Park to pay homage there.
Later, talking to reporters, he slammed the Centre and the Congress leadership for the delay in announcing statehood for Telanganana. He said the people of Telangana would not accept any more committees or meetings, and that they would settle for nothing less than a separate Telangana.
Komatireddi announced that he, along with hundreds of supporters, would start an indefinite fast in Nalgonda, demanding statehood for the region.
He also wrote a letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, demanding that the party announce its decision on Telangana soon.
Nakrekal MLA Chirumarti Lingaiah also resigned from his post, demanding a separate Telangana. (INN)