MP Kumaraswamy, a BJP MLA from the Mudigere constituency in Chikkamagalur in Karnataka, resigned on Friday, April 14. Kumaraswamy submitted his resignation letter at Speaker Viveshvevar Hegde Kageri's residence in Sirsi after being denied the BJP ticket to contest from Mudigere.
He was seeking re-election to the post, but was denied the ticket due to strong opposition within the BJP's internal circle. Instead, Deepak Dodaiah was announced as the party's candidate from Mudigere, which left Kumaraswamy dissatisfied and led to his resignation from both the MLA position and the primary membership of the BJP. In February of this year, Kumaraswamy was convicted in eight cheque bounce cases by a special court for MPs/ MLAs, which directed him to pay the amount (1.38 crore) or undergo six months simple imprisonment for each of the eight cases. Kumaraswamy had resigned from the primary membership of the BJP, on April 13.
Kumaraswamy's resignation from the Assembly came on the same day that former MLA YSV Datta rejoined the JD(S) party, after a brief stint with the Congress.
Datta, who had previously worked with the JDS for several decades, joined the Congress earlier this year, but he was denied a ticket from the Kadur Assembly constituency. The Congress announced Anand KS as its candidate instead. Anand is said to a supporter of Karnataka Pradesh Congress president DK Shivakumar. Consequently, Datta held a meeting with his supporters on April 10 and decided to contest as an independent candidate from Kadur.
On Wednesday, Datta met former Prime Minister and JD(S) chief HD Deve Gowda, seeking his blessings to rejoin the party. On Thursday, HD Revanna and Prajwal Revanna expressed their complete support to Datta for joining the JD(S) and confirmed that he would be given the ticket from the Kadur constituency.
However, Kumaraswamy reportedly expressed his opposition to Datta’s re-induction into the JDS, stating that he was not consulted on the matter. Kumaraswamy claimed that the decision to welcome Datta into the JD(S) was one for Deve Gowda to take.