Naxals order, TRS walks out on YSR

The TRS, unhappy with the Congress because ‘‘not much progress’’ has been made on the Telangana statehood issue, has also been protesting the Andhra police action against Naxalites.

Chief Minister Rajasekhara Reddy, whose government does not face any threat because of the majority his party enjoys in the 294-member Assembly, said a decision on their resignation will be taken at the ‘‘appropriate time’’.

Union Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who heads the UPA sub-committee on Telangana, told reporters in Ahmedabad—he’s on a tour of flood-hit Gujarat—he was confident that the problem would be resolved. ‘‘I am in touch with TRS leaders. The issue will be sorted out,’’ he said.

In New Delhi, Congress spokesman Anand Sharma said that AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh, in charge of party affairs in the state, was also in touch with TRS leaders.

Speaking at a press conference, TRS chief and Union Labour Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao said: ‘‘We will decide whether to stay in the UPA or not after meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and seeing their response to our demand.’’

The TRS, which has five members in the Lok Sabha and two ministers at the Centre, fought in alliance with the Congress in last year’s Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.

Four of its Andhra ministers—T Harish Rao, A Chandrasekhar, Capt Lakshmikanta Rao and Vijayarama Rao—met Governor Sushil Kumar Shinde and submitted their resignation to him this morning.N Narasimha Murthy, on a visit to the US, faxed his communication from there. Santosh Reddy, the sixth minister, defied the party .