VH: Tainted AP ministers must go

Former APCC President V Hanumantha Rao on Saturday trained his guns on the tainted Andhra Pradesh Ministers, in the wake of the resignations of Union Ministers Pawan Bansal and Ashwani Kumar. He called for the resignations of the tainted ministers in Andhra Pradesh Cabinet, in keeping with the best interests of the Congress at heart. Addressing mediapersons, Hanumantha Rao said resignation does not mean admission of guilt. The ministers will have a chance to prove their innocence, get the court clearance and return to power.

"I do want to take any names. It is my personal appeal and it is up to the individual ministers, who are facing allegations, to step down, in order to spare the party of any further embarrassment," Hanumantha Rao said. During the Karnataka Assembly polls campaign, he said, the Congress had exposed the corruption of the BJP. Drawing lessons from the Karnataka Assembly poll results, Congress President Sonia Gandhi discussed the issue with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and decided on the resignations of the two Union Ministers. Acting on the same benchmark, the tainted ministers in the State Cabinet should similarly step down and wait for the courts to clear them. The Karnataka Assembly polls showed that the people have zero tolerance for corruption. If the party loses, no one can gain. Sonia Gandhi has taken a very difficult decision to ask for the resignations of Pawan Bansal and Ashwani Kumar. Thereby, the party will gain credibility. The tainted State ministers should not wait for the Congress High Command, he said. Asked about AICC General Secretary in-charge of Andhra Pradesh Ghulam Nabi Azad saying there was no need for immediate resignations, Hanumantha Rao said it could have been based on the briefings he may have been given at that time. Venkat Parsa