HRD Minister M M Pallam Raju today offered to resign from the Council of Ministers protesting the Union Cabinet's approval to the creation of a separate Telangana state.
Raju told mediapersons that he met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after the Cabinet's decision and made the offer but he asked him "not to act in haste".
"I am very very pained at the decision on the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh which was taken by the Cabinet. Subsequent to the meeting, I met the Prime Minister and offered to resign. He has told me not to act in haste", Raju said.
Raju is a senior leader from Seemandhra region.
Union Tourism Minister K Chiranjeevi, who hails from coastal Andhra region, also offered to quit in protest against the Cabinet's decision.
The ministers from coastal Andhra and Rayalseema region have come under intense pressure from the united-Andhra supporters following the Congress Working Committee's endorsement of separate Telangana demand on July 30.
