Cong leader quits party over 'misbehaviour' with lady MLC

T P Ramesh, chairman of Karnataka Silk Marketing Board Limited, who was in the thick of controversy for his alleged misbehaviour with a woman MLC, has resigned from the post.

Apart from quitting the post as board chairman, Ramesh also resigned from the primary membership of the party.

The incident occurred during an Independence Day programme organised by the district administration at fort premises here.

Ramesh, following an instruction from District Minister M R Seetharam, handed over his resignation letter to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in Bengaluru on Tuesday. Seetharam had expressed resentment over the incident.

Along with the resignation letter, he also enclosed his version on the incident, a fact report, on what actually happened during the programme.

"I have been in public life for 40 years, and the act of enquiring the health of a person (MLC Veena Achaiah) whom I treat as a sister, is construed as wrong by the party. It would be suffocating for seniors like me to continue further in the organisation," Ramesh wrote in his letter to KPCC working president Dinesh Gundu Rao.

Ramesh had held the hand of Veena, only to be gently pushed back by the latter, the video of which had gone viral on social networking sites. As the controversy raged, Kodagu District Congress Committee president Shivu Madappa submitted a report to the higher ups, recommending disciplinary action against Ramesh for embarrassing the party.