Southern States
-
Karnataka
Maruthi Rao Pawar resigns from BJP
By Our Staff Correspondent
MYSORE
Feb. 1.
Maruthi Rao Pawar, former MLA, on Friday resigned from the BJP, queering the pitch for the impending byelections to the Narasimharaja Assembly constituency in the REGIONAL.
Mr. Pawar, who represented Narasimharaja segment between 1994 and 1999, told presspersons here that he would be in the reckoning<243> for the bypolls, which were yet to be announced.
A decision on his future political affiliation would be taken at a meeting of his supporters on Sunday in the city.
In a letter to the BJP State unit President, Basavaraj Patil Sedam, Mr. Pawar has tendered his resignation to the post of the Vice-President of the BJP's State unit Slum Morcha as well as from the primary membership of the party.
Mr. Pawar, who had lost to Azeez Sait in the 1999 Assembly elections, cited the party leadership's failure to confirm his candidature for the bypolls to Narasimharaja constituency in advance as the reason for his resignation.
``I lost the previous elections as the party leadership had dithered on my candidature and gave me the `B' form at the eleventh hour, giving me very little time for campaigning.
Hence, I wrote to the party leadership on January 21 requesting it to confirm my candidature within a week. As I did not receive any reply, I was constrained to quit the party,'' Mr. Pawar said.
Mr. Pawar accused the party leaders of harassing him and scuttling his political growth. He alleged that the Union Minister for Urban Development, Ananth Kumar, the senior party leader, K.S.Eshwarappa, and the Mysore MLA, A.Ramdas, were inimical to his growth in the party.
He alleged that a section of the local BJP functionaries and leaders joined hands with his rivals in the 1999 polls, causing his defeat.
There were enough indications from the party leadership in Bangalore that the BJP would not field him in the bypolls, which had been necessitated by the death of Azeez Sait.
In his letter to Mr. Sedam, Mr. Pawar has pointed out that he was responsible for building up the BJP in the district. ''But, I have been hurt by the manner in which the party has treated me.''
Sources in the BJP said the party was expected to field Orchestra Manju as the candidate for the Narasimharaja byelections.
According to sources, Mr. Pawar is likely to contest as a joint candidate of the JD(U) and the JD(S).
His entry into the JD(U) is believed to have been cleared by the party's State unit leaders. Political observers feel the JD(U) leaders would bring pressure on the JD(S) to support Mr. Pawar in return for the JD(U)'s support to the former Prime Minister and the JD(S) leader, H.D.Deve Gowda, in the Kanakapura Lok Sabha bypolls
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Southern States
|
