State Handloom & Textiles Minister Dr. P Shankar Rao skipped the crucial cabinet meeting held at the Secretariat on Wednesday (30-11-11) keeping everyone guessing what could have been the reason. It was reported that the reason for minister's absence was that he was busy in a meeting discussing the problems of weavers with floor leaders of all parties at the Lakeview Guest House.

As per the sources, Shankar Rao already gave hint to the reporters on Tuesday itself that he would be skipping the meeting on Wednesday. He is said to have told them "I left the last cabinet meeting midway as I was not inclined to sign on the resolution allocating about 35 acres of assigned land at Timmapur to an entrepreneur for setting up a cold storage." The cabinet ratified the allotment of 35 acres of land to a private person at Thimmapur village, about 20 to 25 km away from city, at a meagre price of 6 lakh per acre. "I wrote a letter to chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy opposing the land allotment but there is no response from the government", he said.

Without mentioning the names, Shankar Rao alleged that a minister from Nellore and another from Mahaboobnagar district played a key role in the allotment of the land. He said he would not sign if such land allocation proposals came at the cabinet meeting on 30 November. Moreover, his priority was conducting a meeting of floor leaders of all parties on weavers' issues on the day rather than attend the cabinet meeting, he is said to have told the reporters.