Ahead of K'taka polls, senior JD(S) MLA A T Ramaswamy resigns as legislator

Senior JD(S) MLA from Arkalgud A T Ramaswamy on Friday resigned as legislator, ahead of the May 10 Assembly polls in Karnataka.

Ramaswamy submitted his resignation to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly Secretary at Vidhana Soudha here, as Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri is in his hometown of Sirsi in Uttara Kannada district.

It is not yet clear as to whether he will join the BJP or Congress.

Ramaswamy is the second JD(S) MLA to quit as legislator this week. On March 27, another MLA of the party S R Srinivas (Gubbi Srinivas alias Vasu) resigned and joined the Congress on Thursday.

"I have happily resigned as Arkalgud MLA. I have submitted my resignation to the Assembly Secretary, and once the Speaker comes I will meet him and request him to accept it," Ramaswamy said, speaking to reporters.

He thanked the JD(S) for having given him the opportunity to serve as a member of the Legislative Assembly, and said he has never done politics for personal gains and has served the people of the state and constituency with honesty.

"I did not quit JD(S). They themselves have sent me out... I'm a victim before money power. As I have officially resigned today, I will discuss the future and decide...I have been contacted by people from other parties. Without anything official yet, it will not be right to speak on it...I aspire to contest the election to serve people if I get an opportunity," he added.

A four-time MLA from Arkalgud in JD(S) home turf of Hassan district, Ramaswamy has been vocal about his differences with the party leadership in recent days.

Former Minister A Manju, who has earlier been with both Congress and BJP, and had represented the Arkalgud constituency in the past, recently joined JD(S) and is likely to be the party's candidate from the segment.

There are reports that another JD(S) MLA from Arsikere in Hassan district, Shivalinge Gowda, is also likely to resign soon to join the Congress.