Ex-RS member Shanappa to quit BJP

Upset over being sidelined in the party, former Rajya Sabha member K B Shanappa announced on Saturday that he would quit the BJP.

Speaking to reporters here, he said the party did not keep him in the loop about the induction of Dr Umesh Jadhav into the party fold. All was not well with the party and the senior leaders were behaving like dictators. "I have not taken a call to join the Congress, but anything can happen in future," the leader said.

State BJP president B S Yeddyurappa left the party embarrassed after he took oath as chief minister without a clear majority. He tried to engineer Operation Lotus recently, Shanappa said. Instead of sitting in the Opposition, Yeddyurappa took oath as chief minister. He had to resign in two days as he failed to prove the majority, his move had embarrassed the party a lot, Shanappa said.

It is said that Shanappa may join Congress in the presence of AICC president Rahul Gandhi in the city on March 18.