A total of 29 Andhra Pradesh MLAs have submitted their resignation, as a mark of protest against the state government's alleged effort to stigmatise late chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy's image.

THE 29 MLAs are all supporters of YSR Congress Party leader Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy. The legislators held a demonstration outside the state assembly after which they submitted their resignations to legislature secretary Raja Sadaram, as Speaker N. Manohar was not present.

Congress legislator P. Subhash Chandra Bose, one of the MLA’s who have resigned, said that the move aims to protest against the government efforts to tarnish the image of Rajasekhara Reddy.

The Central Bureau of Investigation has filed an FIR against Jaganmohan Reddy in an illegal assets case. Late CM Rajasekhara Reddy’s name is also mentioned in the FIR.

“Our resignations are the best tributes we can pay to the tallest leader who twice brought the Congress party to power but is now being maligned by the same party,” Bose was quoted as saying by media.

Among those who resigned, 26 MLAs are from Congress party, two from the opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and one is a Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) member.

Earlier, three MLAs had resigned over demand for a separate Telangana state. Although, they did not submit new resignations today, they told the press that they would pressurize the speaker to accept their resignations.

Meanwhile, the concerned Congress legislators also quit as primary members of the party. Before heading to the state assembly they faxed their resignations to the state Congress headquarters Gandhi Bhavan.