Months before the assembly polls in Karnataka, HD Thammaiah submitted his resignation to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and joined Congress on Sunday. The Lingayat leader from Chikkamagaluru is a close aide to BJP heavyweight leader and national general secretary CT Ravi.
Thammaiah said that the recent political developments in the ruling BJP have disappointed him, and he decided to step out from the party. "I have been working in the BJP and fulfilled my responsibilities in various posts since 2007, but the current political developments have disappointed me. As a result, I wish to resign from my post as convener of the district unit as well as primary member of the BJP. I wish to express gratitude to all office bearers, heads and members of all boards, forums and units of the BJP, who helped me in my work for 17 years,” read the resignation letter of the Lingayat leader.
Meanwhile he joined the Congress in the presence of KPCC (Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee) President DK Shivakumar. The senior Congress leader said that many leaders from the ruling BJP are in touch with him and soon the leaders will join Congress. Speaking with the news agency ANI, DK Shivakumar said, “Many leaders of BJP met me voluntarily. They wanted a change in Chikkamagaluru. Around 13 members applied for tickets. We're admitting all second-hand leaders. It is a trend now, they look at big leaders, we look at leaders that work at booth level.”