The Osmania University Joint Action Committee on Telangana on Tuesday appealed to political parties in Andhra Pradesh to field relatives of people who died during the agitation for a separate state when the by-elections are held in over ten constituencies in the state.

More than 10 Members of Legislative Assembly from the Telangana Rashtra Samiti and other parties have resigned from their posts to protest the Terms of Reference of the Justice B N Srikrishna Committee. Speaker Kirankumar Reddy has accepted their resignations.

Manavat Rai, a member of the OU Joint Action Committee, said the parties should field relatives of the people, especially students, who have 'sacrificed their lives for the cause of a separate state'.

"If they (political parties) don't give them the opportunity, we will persuade the relatives to enter the fray as independents," he told reporters.

A group of students from the varsity is in the capital to meet Congress leaders on the contentious statehood issue. Osmania University is the nerve-centre of the separate state agitation.