Ranchi, Sep 9 - All 22 Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators in Jharkhand Wednesday resigned from the assembly and demanded lifting of the president's rule and early elections in the state.

The BJP legislators accompanied by state party president Raghubar Das, Lok Sabha members, former chief minister Arjun Munda and former central minister Yashwant Sinha met Speaker Aalamgir Aalam and submitted their resignations.

They earlier met Governor K. Sankaranarayanan at the state secretariat and handed over their resignations. The BJP leaders also submitted a memorandum to the governor, seeking dissolution of the assembly and early elections.

Their move brings down the strength of the 82-member assembly to 43.

'The Congress is setting up a wrong precedent by not holding elections in the state. Why are elections not taking place in Jharkhand along with Haryana, Maharashtra and Arunanchal Pradesh where polls will be held Oct 13?' Raghubar Das asked while talking to reporters.

'The Congress lost its ground in the Lok Sabha elections (in the state) and is trying to regain the lost ground by using the office of the governor.