Andhra Pradesh Infrastructure and Investment minister, Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, resigned from the cabinet as well as the state Assembly this evening.
Komatireddy, who had set September 30 as the deadline for the Centre to come out with a statement on creation of Telangana state, met Governor E. S. L. Narasimhan and submitted his resignation from the Kiran Kumar Reddy government.
He later went to the Assembly and submitted resignation to Legislature Secretary Raja Sadaram.
Komatireddy, whose younger brother Rajagopal Reddy is an MP, said he would continue in the Congress.
"I sincerely appeal you to take a favourable decision on the decades-old democratic demand for creation of Telangana state, in the larger interest of the region and the Congress party," he has written in an open letter to party president Sonia Gandhi.
Komatireddy, who represents Nalgonda in Telangana, has been taking active part in the Telangana agitation.
Of late he has been lashing out at the Chief Minister on Telangana issue, and has even accused him of sending misleading reports to the Centre on the ongoing indefinite general strike.
Komatireddy was arrested and later set free four days ago when he staged a dharna in front of the Vidyut Soudha, protesting the "discriminate" power cuts in Telangana.
He was also a witness to the assault on a senior transport department official in the Transport Commissioner's office by pro-Telangana activists.
Ironically, Komatireddy himself has been at the receiving end of the protest. Two days ago, teachers taking part in the agitation hurled footwear at him in his hometown. He faced protests the next day from others, despite his active support for a separate state.
Komatireddy announced he would launch an indefinite fast with one lakh supporters in Nalgonda from tomorrow.