Talking to the media after meeting the Chief Minister at his camp office here on Monday, Dharmana said he had submitted his resignation as long back as August last year. He said simply because CBI made some charges against them, they should not be treated guilty. He expressed anguish at being called tainted ministers. He said no one becomes guilty simply because investigative agencies make charges, which need to be proved in the court. Stating that CBI was arguing that they had hidden some facts before the cabinet and added that it was not true.

Dharmana explained that Vanpic allocations were made only through cabinet decisions. He said everything was done with the full knowledge of the cabinet. He said he still stuck to his resignation which he gave long back. He said he never gave lands to anyone and claimed that he had not signed any file.

Stating that I and I was acting as the nodal agency for the government, he said the revenue department had no authority to give lands to anyone. Strongly attacking some parties for making baseless charges against him. He expressed confidence that he would come out of the charges and stated that the judiciary in the country was functioning well. Reminding that he grew from village level to become a minister through the Congress party, Dharmana said he would remain a Congress man.

When asked how he would serve the party, Dharmana said it was up to the party leadership to decide how to use him. He said that he was determined to serve the party. He also expressed the view that Sabita Indra Reddy also not done anything improper. He said she acted as per law. When asked about his resignation, Dharmana reminded that he had submitted it last august itself.

Former MP K Kesava Rao and MPs Manda Jagannatha (Nagar Kurnool), Vivek (Peddapalli) and Rajaiah (Warangal) met the TRS chief in his farmhouse. As the three had declared on Sunday that they would keep their options open if the Congress High Command did not announce its decision on Telangana by the end of this month, the meeting gained political significance.

TRS MLAs Harish Rao and KT Rama Rao also were present at the meeting. It is being said that the MPs are likely to join the TRS before June 3. Reports suggest that they took the decision to leave the ruling party and join TRS as they did not want to give any more time for the Congress High Command.

It is learnt that the three MPs were highly disappointed by the High Command postponing the solution to the Telangana tangle constantly and made up their minds that they would have no future if they remained in the party. They were also reportedly angered by the comparison of Telangana to cup of coffee or tea by Vayilar Ravi and another top leader P C Chaco stating that Telangana was not on the common minimum programme.

It may be recalled that the three MPs met at the residence of Vivek on Sunday and discussed about their future course of action. It was after the meeting that they gave an ultimatum to the Congress leadership that they would be free to leave the party if the High Command does not take a decision on ‘T’ by the end of the month.

Speaking to mediapersons here on Monday, State DRF president Kolli Nageshwara Rao reminded that Chiranjeevi, while floating his erstwhile Praja Rajyam party, had not only got his party flag hoisted by a disabled youth but also gave him first membership of his party. He had also promised reservation in education and employment to the handicapped persons for their uplift in the society. But after winning the elections, he “sold himself” to the ruling Congress party for sake of power and totally forgot about the disabled. Therefore, they have decided to write an open letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi to remove Chiranjeevi from the Union Cabinet forthwith for cheating the disabled persons in the State.

Stating that DRF executive would meet on May 30 to chalk out future course of action, Nageshwara Rao demanded that the State government increase their pension from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,500, provide reservation to the disabled in the ensuing civic elections, distribute land to the disabled families besides solving all the problems being faced by them.

The DRF chief warned that if their demands were not conceded, they would be constrained to stage a dharna in front of Sonia Gandhi’s residence.