Kiran Reddy disillusioned, anguished over AP division

Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, who today quit his post and the Congress party, has expressed disappointment over the manner in which the state was being divided.

In his resignation letter to Governor E S L Narasimhan, Reddy has said, "The decision to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh, the first linguistic state in the country, unsupported by any policy, for no stated reason, rejected by the State Legislature, without following any conventions, laid-out procedures and not in conformity with the Constitutional provisions is patently arbitrary, unreasonable and unconstitutional, more so in the absence of any consensus among the people of the State."

"I am disillusioned with the disrespect the Union Government and Lok Sabha had shown to the State, its Legislature and the people by suspending public representatives from Andhra Pradesh and not providing an opportunity to any one of them to express their views," Reddy wrote in the letter.

"The manner in which the Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha reflects the new depths to which our Parliamentary Institutions have sunk in," he further wrote.

"My conscience does not permit me to continue as Chief Minister any longer. Hence, I hereby, tender my resignation as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. I request you to kindly accept the same with immediate effect.

"I am grateful to you for your guidance and cooperation in the discharge of my responsibilities during my tenure as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh," he mentioned. Raj Bhavan sources said the Governor has accepted the Chief Minister's resignation and asked him to continue till alternative arrangements are made.