Women Development and Child Welfare Minister Konda Surekha, a loyalist of late chief minister Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and staunch supporter of Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, resigned on Thursday evening ahead of an impending Cabinet reshuffle.

Sources said she resigned after getting enough hints that she may be dropped in the reshuffle for openly opposing Chief Minister K Rosaiah and making statements in support of Jaganmohan.

Surekha submitted her resignation letter to Governor N D Tiwari. In the letter, she said she was unable to come to terms with YSR’s death and it was difficult for her to continue as minister after his death.

Talking to The Indian Express over phone, Surekha said that by resigning she also wanted to tell the party high command that people wanted Jaganmohan as the chief minister. “This is purely a personal decision. I did not inform Jaganmohan as he might have tried to persuade me not to resign.”

Surekha, MLA from Parkal in Warangal district, was apparently forced to resign as she could not take back the bold statements she had made two weeks ago. She said she was disturbed by media reports that she was not sticking to her word of resigning if Jaganmohan was not made chief minister.