Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader KS Eshwarappa has decided not to contest in the upcoming assembly polls in Karnataka. The BJP MLA from Shivamogga has reportedly conveyed his decision to the party’s National President JP Nadda in a letter. The reasons behind his decision to opt out of the election race are not yet clear.
According to a PTI report, the Shivamogga BJP MLA has been making efforts to secure a BJP ticket for his son, KE Kantesh from the same seat.
In his brief letter written in Kannada, the veteran legislator and former deputy chief minister, said his decision was out of his own will.
Senior BJP leader K S Eshwarappa writes to party president J P Nadda, opts out of contesting upcoming assembly polls in Karnataka
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) April 11, 2023
Eshwarappa has been mired in several controversies in the past.
Last month he stoked a controversy by saying that Azaan is a “headache” for him while addressing a gathering in Mangaluru. A day later he tried justifying his remark saying that the students in Karnataka were having examinations and parents were complaining that due to Azaan and loudspeakers students were unable to study properly.
Last year in July, Eshwarappa was named in a police case involving the death of a contract worker in Udupi. The FIR lodged in the matter stated that the Minister was instrumental in driving the contractor Santosh Patil to suicide.
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He was later given a clean chit after the police absolved him of any wrongdoing in the matter.
A month later the former deputy chief minister raked another row after he called 18th-century Mysore ruler Tipu Sultan a “Muslim gunda”.
The 224-member Karnataka Assembly which will have its term expire in May this year will undergo polls on May 10 and the votes will be counted on May 13.
While the Congress has already released two lists of candidates, BJP is yet to announce its first list.