Bengaluru, Feb 4 (IANS): Karnataka Legislative Council Chairman, K. Pratap Chandra Shetty on Thursday resigned from his post.

After the Janata Dal-S forged a new alliance with the BJP, it was clear that Shetty would have had to resign from his post.

However, on December 15 last year, the specially reconvened day-long session in the Council witnessed uproarious scenes, with Deputy Chairman, S.L. Dharme Gowda being pushed and dragged from the Council Chairman's seat, which he had occupied even before the quorum bell rang.

In his farewell speech in Kannada addressing Council members, Shetty stated that his hands were tied with Gowda's sudden demise, and as a result of this, he had to continue "unwillingly".

On December 29, Gowda's body was found on a railway track in Chikkamagaluru, a few kilometres away from his farmhouse. This further complicated the matter, with both the ruling and the opposition parties trading barbs against each other on this death.

"I am deeply hurt with an unsavoury incidents that took place on December 7 to 12, and December 15 last year. One of the oldest Upper House which has a history of 113 years... this House was never a witness to such unpleasant scenes. This will remain as the saddest moment of my life," Shetty said.

"This was not the case when I had joined politics 37 years ago and most of my contemporaries will surely agree with my view point," he said.

"The floor strength alone cannot be the only yardstick to assess one's popularity or reputation. The politics is always decided by the majority whether inside the House or outside. But I wish for the House to deliberate more about issues concerning the country's majority -- Dalits, backwards, and farmers instead of focussing more on just floor strength," he added.