Seemandhra MLAs, ministers to resign en masse

As feared, all the Seemandhra ministers and Congress MLAs have decided to resign en masse in protest against the Centre's decision to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh to create Telangana.

Talking to reporters after the elected representatives of Seemandhra region held a meeting here on Thursday, Ministers T G Venkatesh and S Sailajanath announced that they would be meeting Speaker Nadendla Manohar later in the evening and submit their resignations in the Speaker's format. They would be later meeting Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and submit their resignations from the cabinet.

Meanwhile, former minister J C Diwakar Reddy demanded that the Centre reserve its decision on Telangana issue. Citing the instances of violent protests across Andhra and Rayalaseema region, he said that the situation might go out of control if immediate steps were not taken.