Two more Andhra ministers quit

Two more ministers from Seemandhra Monday resigned to protest the central government's decision to carve out a separate Telangana state from Andhra Pradesh.

Ministers Kondru Murali and Satrucharla Vijaya Rama Raju called on Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy and submitted their resignations.

They said Andhra Pradesh should not be divided and the political parties should take back the letters which they gave to the central government seeking the division.

With this the number of ministers from Seemandhra (Rayalaseema and Andhra) who have resigned rose to eight. More than 50 legislators have also quit since the decision was announced July 30.

The two ministers submitted the resignation a few hours before the deadline set by government employees from Seemandhra.

Andhra Pradesh Non-Gazetted Officers' (APNGO) Association, which represents the employees from Seemandhra, has threatened to go on indefinite strike from Monday midnight, if all the central and state ministers, MPs and state legislators from Seemandhra failed to quit to mount pressure on the central government.