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TRS MLAs led by the floor leader E Rajindar handed over the resignation letters to the secretary of Andhra Pradesh Legislature on Tuesday afternoon amid the slogans of 'Jai Telangana'.
Speaking after submitting the resignation letters, TRS MLA and party president K Chandrasekhar Rao's son K Taraka Rama Rao said that they chose to resign even though there was no demand for them to do so.
"We wanted to send a more powerful message from the people of Telagnana through resignation of all the elected representatives of the region. If this is not a strong enough message for the creation of Telangana, then what is?"
He said that they will welcome the president's rule if imposed on the state as a result of the political crisis arising out of these resignations. However, he rejected the idea that the president's rule can be used to suppress the Telangana movement. "No force on earth can do that. We have made it clear that nothing other than Telangana state would be acceptable to the people," he said.
"We have resigned to fulfill the wishes of the people", said TRS leader T Harish Rao.
Earlier both the Lok Sabha members of the regional party K Chandrasekhar Rao and Vijayshanti also faxed their resignation letters to the Speaker Meira Kumar. With two Telugu Desam MPs from the region submitting their resignations in Delhi, the total number of Lok Sabha members resigning for Telangana has gone up to 13.
Nine Lok Sabha and one Rajya Sabha member of the Congress party had resigned on Monday. The spate of resignations began on Monday when 42 MLAs of Congress and 37 of the main opposition Telugu Desam put in their papers demanding that the Centre should immediately initiate the process of formation of Telangana state. At the same time 17 members of legislative council have also resigned.
Now the attention is on the remaining 24 Telangana MLAs of other parties who were yet to resign. Out of them two members of the Bharatiya Janata Party and four of the Communist Party of India were also likely to tender their resignations by Tuesday evening.
Most of the MLAs who have not resigned belong to the Congress. They include three ministers, Deputy Chief Minister D Rajanarasimha, and two ministers from Hyderabad Danam Nagendar and Mukesh Goud and Deputy Speaker Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka.
However, the party sources said that even these members were thinking of resigning as they were coming under overwhelming pressure from the people.
Pro-Telangana activists held demonstrations outside the residence of many politicians Union Minister S Jaipal Reddy and Congress MLA A Rajindar in Hyderabad and TDP member of Rajya Sabha Gundu Sudha Rani in Warangal.
Interestingly, after the 2009 elections, ten TRS MLAs and one each of the TDP and the BJP had resigned in support of Telangana.
TRS President K Chandrasekhar Rao has quitting the Lok Sabha seat midway for the second tome. He had earlier resigned in the Karimnagar Lok Sabha seat in 2006 and now he is resigning from Mahubnagar seat.