Dharmana, Sabitha out

• Met CM Kiran Reddy late on Sunday for 45 minutes in the wake of clear signals from New Delhi
• Later, they left in their own vehicles, without meeting media
• After Railway Minister Bansal and Law Minister Ashwani Kumar quit, pressure kept mounting on both to step down
• Fate of other Ministers involved in issue of 26 controversial GOs during YSR regime hangs in balance
• TDP has been upping the ante; Naidu to meet Prez today

Hyderabad: Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy obtained resignations from Home Minister Sabitha Indra Reddy and the Minister for Roads and Buildings, Dharmana Prasada Rao, late on Sunday night as part of the 'Operation Clean-up' launched by him as desired by the party high command in the wake of increasing clamour both within party as well as in the opposition camps for action against his 'tainted' cabinet colleagues.

The resignations will be forwarded to Governor ESL Narasimhan on Monday. A Both the Ministers went in their personal vehicles to the Chief Minister's Jubilee Hills residence, where they were closeted with him for more than 45 minutes. The Chief Minister put forth before the duo the high command's option as part of the damage-control exercise. He reportedly made it clear that their exit was inevitable as their cases cannot be dealt differently from Union Law Minister Ashwani Kumar and Railway Minister Bansal who were shown the door by the high command only last week for their alleged involvement in two different scams that rocked the Centre.

Both the Ministers, who were charge-sheeted by CBI in the disproportionate assets case of Kadapa MP and YSR Congress President Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, finally tendered resignations. With disappointment writ large on their faces, they left around 10.50 pm. The Chief Minister had a telephonic discussion with both the Ministers earlier in the day and sounded them on the mood of the high command. A Dharmana, who flew back to the city from Srikakulam, had reportedly asked his personal secretary to get ready with the resignation letter by the time of his arrival in the city.

The Chief Minister told them that he ran out of all options to save them. He said he had made all-out efforts to impress upon the high command on the integrity of both the Ministers. He had argued on their behalf by presenting the related files to the party leaders. He reminded that he had even prevailed on Dharmana to continue even after he tendered his resignation for the first time in July 2012 after being charge-sheeted in the case. A So far, three Ministers of Kiran Kumar Reddy's Cabinet had had quit so far in connecting with the CBI probe, the first one being Mopidevi Venkataramana, Minister for Excise.

Dharmana, who was deeply hurt and annoyed with the decision of the high command, was said to be in a rebellious mood. He was upset as the party wanted him to continue when he was firm on quitting on moral grounds. He had held discussions with the party workers in his constituency only on Saturday. Such an unceremonious exist was least expected and he may quit even as an MLA, say his followers. A Sabitha, who was accompanied by her son Karthik Reddy, seemed visibly shattered with the sudden decision of the high command.

Pressure on the other threeA

Hyderabad: With the resignation of ministers R & B Minister Dharmana Prasada Rao and Home Minister P Sabitha Indra Reddy from the Cabinet on Sunday night in connection with the disproportionate assets case of Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, now the pressure may increase on the other three "involved" ministers also to follow suit. Even though Agriculture Minister Kanna Lakshminarayana, IT Minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah and Major Industries Dr Geetha Reddy are not charge-sheeted by the CBI so far, nevertheless, they were questioned and the Supreme Court on March 12, 2012, ordered issue of notices to them, together with eight IAS officials.

The three were accused of taking various administrative measures to help certain companies.A Now political and moral pressures may mount against them, particularly from the opposition parties. Even Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy may feel the heat on this account. TDP President and main opposition leader N Chandrababu Naidu is already mounting pressure on the government.

Vanpic case :A Dharmana accused No. 5

Hyderabad: Minister for Roads and Buildings Dharmana Prasada Rao has been named in a charge-sheet, the fourth in the series, filed by CBI in the disproportionate assets case against YSR Congress Chief Y S Jaganmohan Reddy. Besides him, former Minister Mopidevi Venkataramana Rao, two senior IAS officers � Manmohan Singh and M Samuel� are also among the 14 people who figured in the fresh charge-sheet filed by the CBI, which is probing the corruption charges against the Kadapa MP.

Dharmana (Accused No. 5) and Mopidevi (Accused No. 4) were the Ministers for Revenue and Infrastructure and Investment respectively in the Y S Rajasekhara Reddy government. The opposition was quick to seek the resignation or dismissal of Dharmana from the Cabinet following the charge-sheet against him. A Mopidevi, who served as minister in the Kiran Kumar Reddy Cabinet as well, was arrested in May this year in connection with the case. He resigned as Excise Minister following the arrest and has since been lodged in Chanchalguda prison here.

The 177-page charge-sheet citing around 280 documents besides statements of witnesses, filed in the Court of Principal Special Judge for CBI cases here, relates to investigations into land allotments for the ambitious Vadrevu and Nizampatnam Ports & Industrial Corridor (VANPIC) project as part of the probe against Jagan.

VANPIC's promoter and industrialist Nimmagadda Prasad allegedly invested Rs 854 crore in the companies belonging to Jagan as a largesse for which the then government headed by late Rajasekhara Reddy allegedly doled out many favours including awarding the project. The charge-sheet also named Jagan's financial advisor V Vijay Sai Reddy, Nimmagadda Prasad alias Matrix Prasad, senior bureaucrat K V Brahmananda Reddy (presently under judicial custody), Nimmagadda Prakash, VANPIC Projects Pvt Ltd, Jagati Publications Pvt Ltd, Raghuram Cement Corporation Pvt Ltd and Bharati Cement Corporation Pvt Ltd, Carmel Asia Holdings Pvt Ltd and Silicon Builders Pvt Ltd.A They were booked for alleged offences of criminal conspiracy, cheating and other relevant sections of IPC and other provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act.

Dalmia case :A Sabitha accused No. 4

Hyderabad: Home Minister P Sabitha Indra Reddy has named as accused No. 4 in the fifth charge-sheet filed by the CBI in the Jaganmohan Reddy case before the special CBI court. She has been charged under Sections 120 B, 409, 420 of the Indian Penal Code and also under Section 9, 12, 13, 13(1) of the Prevention of Corruption Act in the Dalmia Cements case.A The 62-page charge-sheet, appended with 53 documents and statements from 47 witnesses, named as many as 13 accused, the first one being Jaganmohan Reddy (A-1).

Sabitha is the third minister to be named in the Jagan's disproportionate assets case. A According to the charge-sheet, Dalmia Cements had invested Rs 50 crore in Raghuram Cements (later renamed as Bharati Cements) promoted by Jagan, in return for granting of mining leases for limestone in 409 hectares in Kadapa district by the YS Rajasekhara Reddy government.

The CBI also named Sajjala Divakar Reddy of Sajjala Group, which had invested Rs 49 crore in Jagan's media house as a favour done to Obulapuram Mining Company promoted by mine lord Gali Janardhan Reddy, in which Sajjala group has business interests. Sabitha was holding the portfolio of mines and geology during the YSR regime, Srilakshmi was the Secretary of Mines and Rajagopal Director of Mines. They were instrumental in allotting limestone deposits to Dalmia Cements as a quid pro quo gesture to its investments in Jagan's firms.