Two India ministers resign on corruption charges

NEW DELHI - Two senior ministers of the ruling Congress party in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh have resigned late Sunday night following corruption charges against them, highly placed sources said Monday.

"State Home Minister P. Sabita Indra Reddy and Roads and Buildings Minister Dharmana Prasada Rao have tendered their resignation letters to Chief Minister Kiran Reddy, after they were charged with graft by the country's premier probe agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), in a disproportionate assets' case of Jaganmohan Reddy, the son of late Chief Minister Y. S.R. Reddy," the sources said.

Both ministers allegedly showed undue favors to companies which invested in Jaganmohan Reddy's business during 2004 to 2009 when they served in the Cabinet of Y.S.R. Reddy, who was the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh at the time.

The state's ruling Congress party has been defending the duo, but sources said that party chief Sonia Gandhi on Saturday directed the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister to ask the two ministers to quit, a move seen as a major step to drop tainted ministers by the scandal-hit party, a year ahead of the general elections.

Two central government ministers, former Law Minister Ashwini Kumar and former Railway Minister Pawan Bansal, were also forced to resign recently following their involvement in scandals.