Resignations from Seemandhra flow in

7 MPs from LS, RS; 6 MPs from ruling Congress, all from Seemandhra, announced they were resigning

Political parties were unable to contain the fallout from the announcement that Andhra Pradesh would be divided and another rash of resignations  by both MPs and MLAs was reported, cutting across party lines.

Seven MPs from the Telugu Desam, both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, and six MPs from the ruling Congress, all from Seemandhra, announced they were resigning. The Congress MPs gave in their resignations to TK Vishwanathan, Secretary General of the Lok Sabha (they are required to hand them to the Speaker for them to be accepted) and the TDP leaders merely announced their intention to quit.

In the rest of the country too the fall out from the decision continued. From Assam, the situation in Karbi Anglong district was reported to be tense as protestors demanded their own council preparatory to a new, independent state. Two people have died in violent protests while 20 have been injured.  Agitators demanding an autonomous council resorted to violence and arson, destroying the railway tracks near the district headquarters at the Diphu railway station. The Bodos of Assam announced strikes and a rail blockade all over Assam and to seek a Bodoland state. Angry protestors removed six kilometres of railway tracks in the Diphu-Lumding section and as a consequence, train services between Upper and Lower Assam have been paralysed with major trains controlled at Dimapur and Lumding, police said.

The Andhra MPs, who have given letters of resignation are A Sai Prathap (Rajampet constituency), Anantha Venkatarami Reddy (Anantapur) C V Harsha Kumar (Amalapuram-SC), Vundavalli Arun Kumar (Rajahmundry), Lagadapati Rajagopal (Vijayawada) and S P Y Reddy (Nandyal).

The lone Upper House member from the region, KVP Ramachandra Rao, submitted his resignation to Rajya Sabha Secretary General Shamsher K Sheriff.

The MPs said that three more Lok Sabha members from the state — Sabbam Hari (Anakapalli), Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy (Ongole) and Rayapati Sambasiva Rao (Guntur) —had also faxed their resignations.

The MPs claimed that central ministers from Andhra Pradesh would meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister on Saturday and then tender their resignations.

They said they had sought an appointment with Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar as per norms that the Speaker, who has to accept their resignations, has to be satisfied that they had taken the step on their own free will and not under duress.

The resignations came a day after Congress Union ministers and some MPs from Andhra Pradesh held a meeting at the residence of KVP Ramachandra Rao late on Thursday night.

At the meeting, the Union ministers are understood to have counselled the MPs not to resign saying that after the Congress high-command’s decision on Telangana formation, it would focus on Andhra’s future development.

However, the MPs felt that the situation has still not gone out of hand and by tendering their resignations, they can force the government to hold back its decision.

Some of them were also of the view that the issue could be raised effectively in Parliament by stalling its proceedings when the Monsoon Session begins from Monday.

The MPs — Y Satyanarayana Choudary, C M Ramesh (both Rajya Sabha), Nimmala Kistappa, Konakalla Narayana and Modugula Venugopal Reddy (Lok Sabha) — said they were resigning in protest against the "injustice" being meted out to (new) Andhra Pradesh through the division.

“Our party has favoured creation of Telangana state. We stand by it. We are not against the Bill (for creation of a new state). But we want the interests of new Andhra Pradesh that will come into being upon bifurcation to be protected,” the MPs announced at a press conference.