Andhra Pradesh ministers from Telangana region, who quit their posts in support of a separate statehood demand, said on Tuesday they will stay away from the state Cabinet meetings until Centre comes out with a positive statement on the issue.
"We will not go (attend cabinet meetings) until a clear stand is announced on Telangana issue," Civil Supplies Minister J Krishna Rao told reporters in Hyderabad.
"We have told everything to our high command. We are hopeful that the Centre would come out with a positive response," IT Minister K Venkata Reddy said.
Asked how long the ministers would stay away from their official responsibilities, major Irrigation Minister P Laxmaiah said the ministers would resume duties whenever the Centre announced steps for the formation of separate Telangana.
"We wanted the Centre to give clarity on its statement by specifying a time frame for the formation of Telangana. We will act accordingly," he said.
The ministers had yesterday ruled out withdrawal of their resignations until the Congress high command comes out with a "categorical time frame" for the issue.
The ministers, who have sent a common resignation letter to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, met Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Urban Development Minister S Jaipal Reddy, Law Minister Veerapa Moily and party leader Ahmed Patel in New Delhi during the last two days and discussed the current situation and put forth their demands.
Meanwhile, the ministers and other senior Congress leaders had a meeting to discuss the current situation over the Telangana issue today.
"We will brief the leaders about the Delhi visit. We will the discuss the threadbare," IT Minister K Venkata Reddy said. PTI
