Thaindian News

Bangalore, May 28 (IANS) Former Karnataka chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy of the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) Thursday resigned from the state assembly following his election to the Lok Sabha.
Kumaraswamy, 49, son of former prime minister and JD-S supremo H.D. Deve Gowda, submitted his resignation to assembly speaker Jagdish Shettar here. He represented the Ramanagaram constituency in Bangalore Rural district.

“Following my election to the Lok Sabha from the Bangalore Rural constituency in the recent elections, I have resigned from the state assembly to work for the state’s development as a parliament member,” Kumaraswamy told reporters.

Kumaraswamy, who is also the party’s state unit president, wrested the parliamentary seat from the Congress by defeating C.P. Yogeshwar of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with a margin of 130,275 votes.

The constituency was redrawn from Kanakapura, about 50 km from here, as part of the delimitation exercise.

Congress candidate Tejaswini Gowda, who defeated Deve Gowda from Kanakapura in the 2004 polls, came third this time.

“I have resigned to spike speculation in a section of the media that I would give up the Lok Sabha seat to continue as a legislator from Ramangaram, which is a segment of the Bangalore Rural parliamentary constituency,” Kumaraswamy said.

This is the second time Kumaraswamy will be a Lok Sabha member. He first won Lok Sabha elections in 1996 from the erstwhile Kanakapura constituency. He, however, lost in the 1998 mid-term polls.

“By remaining a Lok Sabha member, I want to assure the people of the state, including my electorate, that I am committed to accelerate the socio-economic development of Karnataka and my parliamentary constituency, which is adjacent to Bangalore,” Kumaraswamy clarified.

The JD-S won three of the 28 Lok Sabha seats across the state, while the Congress won six and the BJP 19.

Deve Gowda represents Hassan and senior party leader N. Cheluvarayaswamy represents Mandya.

“I also want to ensure that the state is not discriminated against by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government on the development front. I have first-hand experience of the step-motherly treatment meted by the centre during my 20-month tenure as chief minister from February 2006 to October 2007,” Kumaraswamy said.

Apparently in the hope of securing a cabinet berth in the Manmohan Singh ministry, Kumaraswamy met Congress president Sonia Gandhi after the election results and handed over a letter from Deve Gowda, extending the JD-S’ unconditional support to the UPA government.

Though the JD-S was a principal constituent of the Third Front, formed just ahead of the elections, the father and son duo decided to throw their lot with the UPA.

Kumaraswamy had joined hands with the BJP to form a coalition government in Karnataka in February 2006, soon after he toppled the Congress-led coalition government, and remained chief minister for 20 months.