Andhra Pradesh: Six MLCs urge Council Chairman to accept their resignations

Amaravati, Dec 1 Six members of Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council met Council Chairman K. Moshen Raju on Monday, days after the High Court directed the presiding officer to decide on resignation letters submitted by legislators within a fixed time frame of not more than 30 days.

Jayamangala Venkataramana, who had approached the court over the delay in accepting his resignation, handed over a copy of the court order to the Chairman and requested him to take an early decision.

Venkataramana, who was elected to the Legislative Council on the YSR Congress Party ticket, submitted his resignation and joined the Jana Sena Party on November 23, 2024.

The resignations of five other MLCs are also pending with the Council Chairman. They all were elected on a YSRCP ticket but submitted their resignations after the party lost power last year.

However, the Chairman had neither accepted nor rejected their resignations.

Council Deputy Chairperson Zakia Khanam, Pothula Sunitha, B. Kalyan Chakravarthi, Padmasri, and Marri Rajasekhar are the other MLCs who called on the chairman on Monday and urged him to take a decision on their resignations.

On Venkataramana’s petition, the High Court on November 27 directed the Chairman to complete the enquiry into the resignation and take a decision within four weeks.

A single-judge bench termed the prolonged inaction in taking a decision by the Chairman as "illegal, arbitrary, and abuse of the process".

Justice Gannamaneni Ramakrishna Prasad said that in the guise of discretionary powers, the chairman, who is in a constitutional position, cannot postpone the decision on the resignation submitted by a member. The court observed that those who are in constitutional positions must act in upholding the spirit of the Constitution, not contrary to it.

Venkataramana was elected as an MLC under the MLA quota in 2023. He resigned from the MLC post and announced his decision to join the Jana Sena party headed by Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan.

Zakia Khanam, who was nominated as an MLC under the Governor’s quota in July 2020, resigned as an MLC and also quit the YSRCP in May 2025 to join the BJP.

Sunitha resigned as MLC in August last year. The three-time legislator was the women’s wing of the YSR Congress. She quit it to join the BJP.

Padmasri and Chakravarthi also submitted their resignations in August 2024.

In March 2025, Rajasekhar also submitted his resignation to the Council Chairman. All three joined the Telugu Desam Party in September.

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