Having realized that the Congress high command might force Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy to accept his resignation in the wake of the CBI charge sheet against him, roads and buildings minister Dharmana Prasada Rao has started blackmailing the party through his colleagues in the cabinet.

On Tuesday, Dharmana called the ministers to his residence for a breakfast meeting and told them to bring pressure on the Chief Minister not to accept his resignation and give approval to the CBI to prosecute him in the VANPIC case.

“Today, it has happened to me. Tomorrow, it could be your turn. If all of us end up in Chanchalguda jail, it will be a big loss of face for the Congress party and the government. Let us fight this case together, rather than I fighting my own battle,” Dharmana told them.

The ministers, including Vatti Vasanth Kumar, Pithani Satyanarayana, Kanna Lakshminarayana, Erasu Pratap Reddy, Galla Aruna, D K Aruna, Anam Ramnarayana Reddy and Danam Nagender, met the Chief Minister at the camp office and told him categorically that Dharmana’s resignation should not be accepted at any cost. They want him to convey the same message to the Congress high command.

“If Dharmana’s resignation is accepted, the entire cabinet would resign in his support,” they told him.