Ayanur Manjunath has said he will resign from the primary membership of the BJP and from the post of the Member of the Legislative Assembly ahead of the Karnataka state elections. He would also file his nomination from the Shivamogga Assembly seat. He said, "I will resign from both, the Legislative Council membership and the primary membership of the BJP. I will file my nomination papers today to contest the elections from the Shivamogga Assembly constituency."
"I have taken this decision with the permission of the people who I represented in the Vidhan Parishad. In the afternoon, there will be a final round of talks with the leaders of a political party regarding the candidature," he added.
He was apparently irked over BJP leader and former minister KS Eshwarappa making efforts to secure a ticket for his son KE Kantesh from the Shivamogga seat, which is currently represented by Eshwarappa.
"There are no signs of the BJP honouring my request for a ticket, instead names of children of some leaders are said to have found mention in the list...I will certainly contest this time.....I will soon be resigning from my MLC post," Manjunath had earlier told reporters in Shivamogga.
He also challenged Eshwarappa or Kantesh to contest against him in the polls, as he hit out at the former for seeking a ticket for his son, rather than for those who worked with him to build the party, and also for allegedly making certain comments against him.
As per the report, Eshwarappa is said to be making efforts to ensure that his son gets a BJP ticket from Shivamogga this time, from where Manjunath is also aspiring to contest.
If Manjunath resigns, he would be the third BJP MLC to do so after Puttanna and Baburao Chinchansur, ahead of the May 10 Assembly polls.