The day after he quit Congress the former Karnataka Chief Minister and veteran leader SM Krishna said he was not retiring from active politics. However the popular leader declined to spell out the next step, saying he had not yet decided on it, but said, he had no plans to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi as was being speculated in the media. He was addressing a Press Conference in Bengaluru on Sunday and said his decision was final. However many of his followers have been asking him to take back his resignation.
Krishna said the party is in a “state of confusion” on whether it needs mass leaders or not, even as he made it clear that he would not reconsider his decision to quit as it was about his “self-respect” and “pride.”
He said “a situation has now come wherein I have to leave the home in which I resided peacefully for the last 46 years. With pain and anguish, I have decided to quit the Congress.” He said the Congress had given “everything” to him and said, “I have seen both good and bad and tasted sweetness and bitterness, but my loyalty to the party has always been steadfast.
“But it now seems the Congress is in a confusion on whether it needs mass leaders or not. Just managing the situation seems to be good enough,” he said. “Politician never retires, only fades away'
Krishna said he had been haunted by the “question as to how appropriate it was to side-line a loyal Congress worker keeping the age as a factor for it.” “Age is a question of mental attitude,” he said, adding “a politician never retires, he only fades away.”
He said the Congress central leaders tried to persuade him to reconsider his decision, but he made it plain to them that he stood by it.
“I reminded the leadership that I am still in existence,” he said on a sarcastic note, adding, they said they took note of it.
“2012 onwards there is a way of getting rid of a political leader. The Congress should learn the art of being graceful. They could have told me that we are thinking of some drastic step. It would have been a graceful exit,” he said in reply to a query about when his “disillusionment” started.
Taking pot shots at Congress leadership Krishna said it did not need “mass leaders” but only wanted “managers” as he complained of being sidelined due to his age.
"Congress today depends more on managers who can manage the party. They do not want time-tested leaders or time-tested workers like me. Hence I have taken the decision, however painful it has been because today I am going away from a house in which I was familiar," said Krishna.
Considered a charismatic leader with pockets of influence in the Vokkaliga belt in the old Mysuru region, Krishna had dashed off a letter to Congress President Sonia Gandhi conveying his decision to resign from the primary membership.
With his move, Krishna had stunned the party, which is facing challenges both at the central and state levels.
Caught off guard, the central and state leaders tried to persuade Krishna till the last minute before his press conference to step back, but he made it plain to them that he remained firm on his decision.
Krishna made no secret of his unhappiness over the way he had to step down as Minister for External Affairs in 2012 just days before a major ministry revamp, saying he expected a 'graceful' exit.