Days after Mayawati decided to not form an alliance with the Congress in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, her party’s lone minister in the Karnataka government has resigned.
N Mahesh, who held the Primary and Secondary Education Ministry portfolio submitted his resignation on Thursday. Mahesh, however, said that he would continue to support Chief Minister Kumaraswamy and his party, the JDS.
I have resigned as the minister. I will continue as a MLA. I will be focusing on my constituency and to strengthen the party for the Lok Sabha polls,” he was quoted by News18.
Making it clear that he had ill feelings towards the Congress or the JDS, he said, “I have no issues with the coalition partners or the government. I had worked towards education department’s betterment. I hope those who will assume the office in future will continue in the same spirit,”
However, Mahesh’s resignation is not being seen related to Mayawati’s snub to the Congress in the upcoming assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Local correspondents say that Kumaraswamy was asked by the BSP supremo to drop Mahesh from the cabinet because of his controversial ‘anti-party’ comments in the past.
He had reportedly said that it was because of him that the BSP had won the lone assembly seat in Karnataka during this year’s assembly elections.
In the assembly elections held in May this year, no single party was able to secure an absolute majority. The Congress and the JDS had formed a post poll alliance to form a non-BJP government.