Hyderabad,Dec 17: Beating a hasty retreat in a bid to pacify the growing resentment in his party on bifurcation of the State,actor-turned politician Chiranjeevi,the president of Praja Rajyam Party resigned from Assembly on Thursday.Amid much fanfare,the megastar signed his resignation letter in the presence of media.In view of the resignations of all the 16 PRP MLAs belonging to the coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema last week in support of a united Andhra,Chiranjeevi changed his earlier stance on Telangana and openly supported the cause of united Andhra.The actor,who hails from coastal Andhra,has done a volte-face on the issue of separate Telangana and decided to join "samaikya Andhra" or United Andhra movement. Ever since launching his party at Tirupati last year,Chiranjeevi had been supporting the demand for a separate Telangana.
Fourteen of PRP's 18 legislators from Andhra and Rayalaseema have already submitted their resignations to the assembly speaker,opposing the central government's decision to initiate the process for the formation of Telangana state.Since 16 legislators of the party are from the two regions,Chiranjeevi has decided to sail with the majority view.Earlier in the day,protesting Chiranjeevi's decision,three presidents of the district units of the party in Telangana resigned from the party while both the legislators of the party from Telangana have also threatened to quit.The party is facing a revolt from leaders in Telangana region.After a three-decade long film career,Chiranjeevi launched PRP last year but failed to make any impact in the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections.It won 18 seats in the 294-member Assembly and drew a blank in the Lok Sabha election.