Reddy silent on Dharmana Rao's resignation issue

The chief minister is maintaining "suspense" on the matter and refused to give any reply when reporters questioned him this afternoon about it.

The R&B Minister submitted his resignation to Kiran on August 14, a day after the CBI named him as the fifth accused in the Vanpic Project land allotment scandal, which is part of the ongoing probe into the disproportionate assets case against Kadapa MP Y S Jaganmohan Reddy.

"I am quitting on moral grounds. I will fight the case and come out clean," Dharmana announced on the day.

The chief minister had sought the Congress high command's "guidance" on the resignation issue.

During his two-day trip to New Delhi on August 23 and 24, Kiran discussed the issue with the Congress top brass, including Sonia Gandhi, but was reportedly asked to deal with it himself.

Kiran returned to Hyderabad late last night and there was expectation that he would forward Dharmana's resignation to Governor for approval today.

However, there were no indications from the CMO on this and the Chief Minister refused to say anything, though he addressed the media on the SC and ST Special Component Plan.