Former Congress MP from Tumakuru S.P. Mudduhanume Gowda, on Thursday, decided to resign from the Congress for being “sidelined” in the party since the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Mr. Gowda is likely to join the BJP to contest the Legislative Assembly elections from Kunigal constituency in 2023.
Before quitting the party, he called on KPCC president D.K. Shivakumar and Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah and told them that he should be relieved from the primary membership of the party immediately.
Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Gowda said Mr. Siddaramaiah and Mr. Shivakumar have conceded that “injustice ‘‘ was meted out to him by the party during the last three years.
The Congress denied ticket to Mr. Gowda for contesting 2019 Lok Sabha elections and then JD(S) and Congress government entered into an alliance to fight elections against the BJP. Alliance between two parties paved the way for JD(S) candidate and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda to contest elections from Tumakuru constituency. But Mr. Deve Gowda was defeated in the elections by G.S. Basavaraj of the BJP.
When he was denied ticket in 2019, the then Congress president Rahul Gandhi and AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal promised to nominate him to Rajya Sabha. The party gave Rajya Sabha seats to veteran leader Mallikarjun Kharge who had lost 2019 elections in Kalaburagi and recently to former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh.
“My active politics is not yet over, so I will have to set a stage for it to continue. I have decided to move away from the Congress and I have requested both leaders (Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar) to relieve me. I will also send them my formal resignation letter soon,” he said.
The former MP said, “I want to say with full responsibility that I have given back to the party more than what it has given me.”
Asked about his next political move, Mr. Gowda said, “I have taken this decision today, now options will be open before me. People of Kunigal want me to contest from there in the 2023 Assembly polls as I had represented the seat for 10 years in the past. Based on the political developments I will decide.”
To a question whether there is any offer from the BJP, he said, “I have decided to quit the Congress today and what will happen in the days to come, I cannot comment now, but I will take a decision soon as elections are fast approaching.”
