Telugu Desam Party MP and Union Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju said on Thursday he and his party colleague YS Chowdary have quit the Union Cabinet, ANI reported. The MPs met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at 6 pm to hand over their resignations.
“When the state of Andhra Pradesh was made, the people did not want to be treated as a residue material,” Raju said. “There were some assurances made. The United Progressive Alliance government made some commitments, now these commitments are the questions.”
The resignations come after weeks of protests by legislators from Andhra Pradesh demanding a special category status for the state. The Budget session of the Parliament has been repeatedly adjourned over the demand.
On Wednesday, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu said his Telugu Desam Party has asked its legislators to resign from the Union Cabinet.
Naidu said the Bharatiya Janata Party had failed to reach out to the TDP on the special category status demand, and that the party will decide whether to continue its alliance with the national party.
Earlier in the day, two BJP members in the Andhra Pradesh Cabinet, Kamineni Srinivas and Pydikondala Manikyala Rao, resigned.
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