JOIN USCrisis for the ruling BJP deepened with two more ministers resigning from the State Cabinet on Thursday. Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar has accepted their resignations.
C P Yogeeshwara and Rajugouda, who quit as the Forest and Small Scale Industries Ministers, respectively, are scheduled to meet Assembly Speaker K G Bopaiah to put in their papers to quit membership from the Assembly. They wanted to meet the Speaker in Madikeri on Thursday but the latter told them to come on Friday. They also met the Governor before meeting the chief minister.
After submitting their resignations to Shettar, Yogeeshwara and Rajugouda said that keeping their political future in mind they are coming out of the BJP, but did not say that they would join the Congress. Sources close to them said that they would be contesting the next Assembly polls as Congress nominees. The efforts made by Minister Renukacharya to convince them to remain with the BJP went in vain.
Rajugouda told reporters that he sees no future for himself in the BJP because the party has been trifurcated.
“I wanted to quit the party much earlier but did not want to embarrass the government before the budget session. There is too much groupism in the BJP.”
He also said that though he could perform as a minister, he could not do much as a district in-charge minister of Yadgir as he had to run from department to department seeking grant of funds.
Denying rumours that they would resign, Ministers V Somanna and Balachandra Jarkiholi said that they would remain with the BJP. Somanna said, “I have decided to face the next elections as the BJP nominee. Our government is not facing any threat. I am going to tour Chamarajnagar district on Friday.”
Jarkiholi also spiked the rumours that he would be quitting the party. He said he has no reasons to quit the party.