BANGALORE: M.P. Kumaraswamy, a BJP MLA from the Mudigere district, resigned from the party on Thursday after his name failed to appear on the second list of candidates for the May 10 Karnataka elections.
Notably, Kumaraswamy was an aspirant from the reserve constituency, but the party decided field Deepak Doddaiah instead.
Party sources claim that because of Kumaraswamy's performance failure, he was denied a ticket. Following the death of a woman in an elephant attack, people chased down and beat up Kumaraswamy, who made headlines. To disperse the mob, police had to use lathi charges.
In February, he was also found guilty in eight other counts of dishonouring checks and ordered to pay the complainant Rs. 1.23 crore.
In his letter of resignation to the state president Nalin Kumar Kateel, Kumaraswamy remarked, "I am stepping down from the primary membership of the party after being pained by the happenings in party.
In a Facebook live video, Kumaraswamy claimed that he had never compromised on development and that the BJP high command had misinterpreted his gesture of treating people of all castes and religions equally. He emphasized, "It is a major surprise that my protest on the grounds of the Vidhana Soudha requesting compensation for farmers who lost crops has also been misunderstood.
Seven MLAs on the second list have been rejected tickets by the party. It has yet to name a candidate for the Hubballi-Dharwad Central and Shivamogga districts, which are currently represented by former chief ministers Jagadish Shettar and K.S. Eshwarappa, respectively.
12 candidates must have their tickets announced by the BJP. On May 10, the state will have elections, and on May 13, the results will be made public. There are 224 total seats, and 113 seats are necessary for a majority.
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