Veteran Congress leader and MLA from BTM Layout in Bengaluru Ramalinga Reddy on Wednesday evening announced that he would continue with the Congress party. It is also confirmed that Reddy has assured the Congress that he will vote in favour of the trust vote. Reddy, who was one among the rebel legislators, had tendered his resignation to the Speaker on July 6 along with 11 other MLAs.
In a statement to the media, Ramalinga Reddy said that after several rounds of talks with the Congress leaders and the high command, he had decided to stay with the Congress.
“Due to several occurrences within the Congress party, I had resigned on July 6, 2019 as the MLA of BTM Layout. I have never sought or demanded a ministerial post. I have been with the Congress party for the last 45 years and I have been an MLA seven times. I had only resigned as an MLA but I had never said I would move away from the Congress,” Ramalinga Reddy’s statement reads.
The veteran leader and former Home Minister of the state also said that he had received several pleas from party workers requesting him to withdraw his resignation. However, Reddy did not specify whether he would withdraw his resignation.
“I have received numerous letters and pleas from party workers who have asked me to withdraw my resignation. Several leaders from the party have also asked me to do the same. In light of these developments, I would like to say that I will continue with the Congress party,” the statement said.
Speaking to the media, Ramalinga Reddy said that he would not make any announcement about his resignation to the media and that he would first discuss it with the Speaker.
“I tendered my resignation to the Speaker. I will not talk about whether I am withdrawing my resignation or not. I will discuss it with the Speaker and then make an announcement,” Ramalinga Reddy added.
Unlike the other rebels who resigned and flew to Mumbai stay at Renaissance Hotel, Ramalinga Reddy had remained in Bengaluru and persisted that he was with the Congress party.
Currently Congress MLAs including Ramesh Jarkiholi (Gokak), Byrathi Basavaraj (KR Puram), ST Somashekhar (Yeshwanthpura), BC Patil (Hirekerur), Shivaram Hebbar (Yellapur), Prathapgouda Patil (Maski), MTB Nagaraj (Hoskote) and Mahesh Kumathalli (Athani) are in Mumbai’s Renaissance Hotel along with JD(S) MLAs K Gopalaiah (Mahalakshmi Layout), AH Vishwanath (Hunasuru) and Narayana Gowda (Krishanarajapete)
However, Congress rebels including Munirathna Naidu (RR Nagar), Roshan Baig (Shivajinagar), K Sudhakar (Chikkaballapura) and Anand Singh (Vijayanagara) have remained in Karnataka but have refused to withdraw their resignations.