BENGALURU: The efforts of Congress to build a united opposition front, a Mahagatbandhan against BJP, ahead of the 2109 Lok Sabha election suffered further setback on Thursday with the lone BSP minister in the Karnataka coalition government, N Mahesh, resigning from the ministry citing personal reasons.
His quitting the cabinet comes two days after he met BSP supremo Mayawati in New Delhi and in the backdrop of her decision not to have any truck with Congress in the assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.
After submitting his resignation to the Chief Minister, Mahesh, who held the Primary and Secondary Education portfolio, said he took the decision to devote full time to strengthening his party in the region ahead of the Lok Sabha poll and focus on development works in his constituency Kollegal in Chamarajnagar district.
Mahesh, who will remain MLA, stressed that the alliance with JD(S) will continue and he was ready to campaign for JD(S) candidates in the bypolls. “I am extremely thankful to Chief Minister Kumaraswamy for giving me an opportunity to work in his ministry,” he said.Though Mahesh’s resignation will not affect the stability of the JD(S)-Congress coalition, the move may affect the prospects of Congress in the bypolls and also the Lok Sabha election as Mayawati could take away a chunk of Dalit votes from Congress.
BSP is not averse to continuing its alliance with JD(S), but prefers to distance itself from Congress, according to party sources. BSP is fighting against BJP and Congress in the Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh Assembly elections.N Mahesh, who announced his resignation on Thursday, had met party chief Mayawati in New Delhi on Tuesday and discussed the evolving political situation in the state. His attack against Congress had intensified after his return. The announcement on his resignation came on Thursday evening after BSP Rajya Sabha member Ashok Siddarth, who is also in charge of party affairs in Karnataka, met Mahesh.
Mahesh said, “There has been a campaign against me in my constituency that I am inaccessible and always remain in Bengaluru. Being the only BSP member in the Assembly, I also have the responsibility of building the party in this region to help behenji (Mayawati) expand the party base. There is no other reason for quitting.”
When asked whether his running feud with Chamarajnagar district minister C Puttaranga Shetty was a cause for his decision, Mahesh ruled it out stating, “I do not have any grouse against anyone in the ministry.”Mahesh’s resignation, however, did not come as a surprise to political observers as there was speculation about dropping him from the ministry after his diatribe against coalition partners Congress and JD(S) just a week ago. Many MLCs from the Teachers and Graduates constituencies were also up in arms against him over his style of functioning as Primary and Secondary Education minister.
Mahesh had blamed Congress, BJP and JD(S) for the continuing evil of caste system in Indian society and polity. Mahesh had been accusing Puttaranga Shetty of deliberately ignoring him and neglecting development works in his Kollegal constituency. Mahesh had even expressed his displeasure at Chief Minister Kumaraswamy for not meeting his demand for additional funds for development of the very backward Kollegal constituency. When asked about extending the pact with JD(S) to Lok Sabha election in 2019, he said party supremo Mayawati will take the call.