Denied ticket, BJP MLA Kumaraswamy quits party in Karnataka

Mudigere BJP MLA M P Kumaraswamy on Thursday announced his resignation from the party, after he was denied ticket to contest the Karnataka Assembly polls, and blamed national General Secretary C T Ravi for not getting nominated.

The three-time MLA said he will also be submitting his resignation as legislator to the Assembly Speaker soon.

In the BJP's second list of 23 candidates announced last night, Deepak Doddaiah was named as candidate from Mudigere.

Kumaraswamy hit out at BJP national General Secretary C T Ravi for not getting the ticket, and said he will decide on his next move after discussing with his supporters and people of his constituency. The MLA cited personal rivalry between him and Ravi as the reason for him missing the ticket.

Speculations are rife that the leader from SC community may join JD(S) or contest as an independent.

''I have sent in my resignation to the party office and will hand over (resignation as MLA) to the Speaker soon. I will discuss with my supporters and voters and decide my next move in a couple of days,'' he said.

''C T Ravi has ensured that I don't get a ticket due to personal reasons, he has that strength now as national general secretary. If I was in his position and he was in mine, I would have done the same thing,'' he said, and warned the BJP that Ravi will decimate the party.

Kumaraswamy said if veteran BJP leader B S Yediyurappa switches off his phone for a week, the party won't win even 50 seats. ''Without Yediyurappa, people will not even come to BJP's meetings.'' He questioned the reason as to why he was denied the ticket. ''I have age and ability on my side.'' Recently, there was a large-scale protest against Kumaraswamy by a section of party workers in the constituency, when Yediyurappa had visited there.