Nineteen Telangana Rashtra Samithi members - 16 Members of Legislative Assembly and three Members of Legislative Council - announced their resignation from the Andhra Pradesh Legislature on Tuesday morning in protest of the delay in the creation of a separate Telangana state.

The 16 TRS MLAs led, by the party's floor leader G Vijayarama Rao, submitted their resignations to Speaker K R Suresh Reddy in the House. Three TRS MLCs, led by floor leader K Dileep Kumar, also handed in their resignations to Council Chairman A Chakrapani. Their resignations came a day after four TRS MPs, led by party president K Chandrasekhar Rao, resigned from the Lok Sabha.

Making a statement on their en masse resignations, Vijayarama Rao accused the Congress of deceiving the people of the Telangana region after regaining power at the Centre and in the State by promising separate Telangana state on the eve of 2004 elections. The Congress had forged an alliance with TRS in 2004 Assembly and Lok Sabha elections.

Accusing the Congress of injustice to the backward region over the last four years, Vijayarama Rao said chief minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy was the 'biggest stumbling block' in the way of a separate Telangana state.

He said since the people of Telangana were deceived by the Congress leadership, the TRS members had no option but to quit their elected posts to register their protest.