BENGALURU: Karnataka President of the JDS Adagur H Vishwanath on Tuesday resigned from his post citing the failure of party's coalition with Congress in the state.
Vishwanath wrote to JDS National President HD Devegowda expressing his desire to step down, citing the poor Lok Sabha polls results and the absolute lack of coordination between allies in the state.
In a two page letter, Vishwanath expressed great disappointment over not being included in the coalition coordination committee and accused the Congress of conspiring against Devegowda in Tumkur and Nikhil Kumar in Mandya resulting in their humiliating defeat.
"Your defeat in Tumkur has hurt me and the party. The Congress deliberately refused us the Mysore seat and compelled you to contest from Tumkur where Congress had an incumbent MP. They conspired to ensure a humiliating defeat," Vishwanath told Devegowda.
He also took a jibe at friend-turned-foe and fellow Kuruba strongman Siddaramaiah accusing him of toying with the coordination committee, controlling it completely and refusing state presidents of both JDS and Congress a place in the committee.
"The coordination committee is merely namesake and has failed miserably in ensuring coordination between the two parties. It hasn't even been able to come up with a common minimum program," Vishwanath said adding that no honest effort has been made to make the coalition work.
Apart from ill health, Vishwanath has been disgruntled over not being consulted for any decisions within the party.
As state President, he wasn't even informed of seat-sharing formula between the two parties during the Lok Sabha polls.
Vishwanath's resignation is being looked at as his outburst after being neglected by Devegowda and Kumaraswamy for far too long within the party. His resignation comes on the day Chief Minister Kumaraswamy has called for a JDS legislative party meeting.
The BJP had swept the Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka, winning 25 of the 28 seats, leaving the ruling coalition partners Congress and JDS with one seat each.
Independent candidate Sumalatha Ambareesh had won the Mandya seat.