Former Karnataka minister R Shankar has decided to resign from the post of MLC.
Karnataka Elections 2023: R Shankar on Wednesday offered his resignation to Assembly Speaker Basavaraj Horatti. He is likely to contest as an independent from Ranebennur.
Shankar had on Wednesday offered his resignation to Assembly Speaker Basavaraj Horatti. He is likely to contest as an independent from Ranebennur. The BJP had announced the ticket for MLA Arun Kumar from the constituency a day earlier, angering the MLC.
Shankar was elected as a minister in the Congress-JDS coalition government after he pledged his support to the alliance following his victory on a Pragyavana Janata Party ticket from the Ranebennur assembly seat in 2018.
However, he shifted allegiance to the BJP in 2019 and was one of the 17 disqualified MLAs. The BJP did not give him ticket in the by-election but made him another MLC.
Expressing displeasure over the BJP’s first candidate list, Shankar said Congress-JDS rebels brought the Bharatiya Janata Party to power and “they betrayed all of us”.
Last month, commercial tax officials raided the residence office of the former minister in Haveri district. A huge quantity of goods were seized, which were allegedly to be distributed as gifts to the voters.
The officials’ seizures included over 6,000 sarees, 9,000 school and college bags and plates and household items worth Rs 20-30 lakh. The operation lasted for about seven hours and the seized goods were handed over to the local police.
As per local reports, tax officials had asked Shankar to supply GST bills for the items, and the MLC had sought three days to submit them. Haveri deputy commissioner Raghunandan Murthy had said that if Shankar fails to pay the bill, the commercial tax officials will register a case after court approval.
In the first list of BJP, out of 224 seats, tickets have been announced for 189 seats. Of these, 52 new faces have been fielded by the saffron party and given tickets to recognized people in various fields, including 32 from Other Backward Classes, 30 from Scheduled Castes and 16 from Scheduled Tribes.
read all latest politics news Here
