Hours after he asked ministers of the TDP to quit their positions in the Union government, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Thursday requested BJP ministers not to resign from the state cabinet.
Speaking in the State Assembly, he commended the two BJP ministers—Health Minister Kamineni Srinivas and State Endowment Minister Pydikondala Manikyala Rao—for reforming their respective departments.
He urged them to continue to work for the welfare of the state, irrespective of their ideological differences.
However, Naidu criticised Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for turning down his demand for special status for the state. He reminded that the BJP had demanded that special status be given to Andhra Pradesh at the time of its bifurcation, pointing out that Venkaiah Naidu had raised the issue in the Rajya Sabha.
Earlier in the day, TDP leader Y.S. Chowdhary, the Union minister of state for science and technology, said he and his party colleague, Ashok Gajapati Raju, the civil aviation minister, would be quitting their portfolios but said the party would be continuing in the NDA.
He termed the move as a 'divorce' but did not comment on Rahul Gandhi's offer of giving special status to the state if the Congress was voted to power.
(With agency inputs)