Even as four Telangana Rashtriya Samiti ministers submitted their resignation letters to Andhra Pradesh Governor Sushil Kumar Shinde, one TRS minister-- S Santosh Reddy-- has refused to quit.
"There is no need for me to resign from the state cabinet. If K Chandrasekhar Rao (TRS president and Union Labour Minister) wants the six ministers in the state cabinet to quit, he and A Narendra (Union Minister of State for Rural Development) must also resign from the Union Cabinet," he said.
Another minister, Nayani Narasimha Reddy, who is presently away in the United States, has said that he would abide by the decision of the party chief. He is reported to have faxed his letter of resignation from the cabinet to his party office. Others who are quitting the cabinet are T Harish Rao, Dr A Chandrasekhar, Dr G Vijayarama Rao and Captain V Lakshmikantha Rao.
Santosh Reddy, who handles the Transport portfolio, has declined to join his other colleagues in quitting the state ministry, even as they tried to persuade him by rushing to his residence on their return from Delhi.
Santosh Reddy did not go to Delhi either for consultations with Chandrasekhar Rao on Sunday.
He said he was engaged in talks with the union leaders of the state-owned APSRTC employees to avert their strike.
Though the talks failed and the RTC buses went off the roads on Monday, Santosh Reddy kept himself busy with "crisis management" on the RTC strike, ignoring the developments gripping his party. He also called on Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy to brief him on the RTC strike situation. Emerging from the meeting, he declared that he would not sail with his colleagues on the resignation issue.
Santosh Reddy was earlier in the Congress before joining the TRS. He served as chairman of Nizamabad Zilla Parishad for three years and later got elected to the assembly in the 2004 polls.
During his long innings in the Congress, he was elected to the assembly for three terms and served as minister for finance, roads and buildings and major industries between 1990-1993.
Though in the TRS, he has been feeling more at home in the company of Congressmen.
Among the ministerial colleagues of Santosh Reddy, Chandrasekhar and Vijayarama Rao came to TRS from Telugu Desam Party, while Lakshmikantha Rao and Narasimha Reddy originally belonged to Congress and Janata Dal respectively. Harish Rao, a nephew of Chandrasekhar Rao, began his political career in the TRS.
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