Belgaum: Sankeshwar Quits as MLC; Olekar Threatens to Resign
From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network
Belgaum, Dec 11: Transport tycoon turned media publisher Vijay Sankeshwar, who had served as BJP MLC, has resigned as member of the Karnataka Legislative Council.
The resignation letter of Sankeshwar has been accepted by the Council Chairman D H Shankaramurthy.
“I had to resign because of the suffocating environment in BJP,” he said.
Sankeshwar made it clear that, ''I have recognized myself with B S Yeddyurappa and my future political course will be in KJP.”
He was once among the six MLCs who shared dais with the former Chief Minister during the KJP convention at Haveri on Sunday.
With ruling BJP reportedly mulling stern action against the 14 BJP MLAs who attended the Haveri rally of former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa for the launch of his regional outfit, Karnataka Janata Party, on Sunday, Nehru Olekar, Haveri MLA and a staunch supporter of the Lingayat strongman, has threatened to resign his assembly membership if he was served a show-cause notice.
The ruling party’s core committee, which is scheduled to meet on Wednesday, is reported to be in favour of issuing show cause notice allegedly for anti-party activities to the 14 MLAs, including three ministers, for participating in Yeddyurappa’s KJP rally and even petition the State Assembly Speaker K G Bopaiah for disqualification of the defiant BJP legislators.
“I will resign as MLA if a notice seeking explanation is served,” said Olekar.
The Yeddyurappa loyalist declared: ''Not only me, all the MLAs who were on the dais with Yeddyurappa, will resign if notice is served.”
Olekar’s threat is believed to be the Yeddyurappa camp’s strategy to counter the ruling party’s move to seek disqualification of the rebel MLAs.
Incidentally, ruling party circles have indicated that two of the 14 rebel MLAs, who attended the Haveri rally, have sent feelers to the Chief Minister suggesting that they stood behind him and would not defy party discipline. They are believed to have told Shettar that they were forced by the other Yeddyurappa supporters to attend the KJP rally at Haveri.
The ruling party has already cracked whip on Yeddyurappa followers by sacking B J Puttaswamy from the cabinet and suspending MP, G S Basavaraj.