In a major blow to ruling Congress ahead of ensuing assembly polls in 2018 in Karnataka, veteran politician and former Chief Minister Somanahalli Mallaiah Krishna has decided to quit the Congress.
Former External Affairs Minister is said to have sent a letter to Congress President Sonia Gandhi informing her of his decision to quit active politics.
local TV channels have reported showing his letter to Congress President.
However Krishna said he would announce his decision on Sunday.
According to party sources Krishna went and met Sonia Gandhi in Delhi on Friday and apprised her of the decision.
It is learnt he has also resigned to the primary membership of the party.
He has sent his resignation from Congress Working Committee and the party too. It remains to be seen if Sonia Gandhi accepts his resignation or not.
It is learnt that 84 year old senior congress leader was annoyed with party for not giving him any responsibility in the State politics.
Krishna who heralded an IT revolution in the State as chief minister has asked the Congress President to relive him from the primary
membership, according
to sources.
A senior Congress leader confirmed that Krishna would likely to announce the decision on Sunday in a scheduled press conference. 84 year old Krishna a gentleman served as Minister of External Affairs of India from 2009 to October 2012.
A member of the Indian Parliament in the Rajya Sabha, Krishna was the 16th Chief Minister of Karnataka from 1999 to 2004 and the 19th Governor of Maharashtra from 2004 to 2008.
According to Congress insiders his exit from the party would definitely affect the chances of the party in old Mysuru region.
Krishna hails from Somanahalli in Mandya district the heart bed of Cauvery studied in the United States, graduating from the Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas and The George Washington University law School in Washington D.C, where he was a Fulbright Scholar. Soon after his return to India, he was elected to the Karnataka legislative Assembly in 1962.
Krishna has served multiple terms as an MP from the Mandya district of Karnataka starting from 1968 in the 4th, 5th, 7th and 8th lok Sabha. He served as minister under Indira Gandhi between 1983–84 and Rajiv Gandhi between 1984 and 1985 as minister of state for industry and finance respectively. He was member of the Rajya Sabha in the years 1996 and 2006. He was member of the Karnataka legislative Assembly and council at different times. Between 1989 and 1992 he was Speaker of the Karnataka legislative Assembly and Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka.
In 1999, as Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president, he led his party to victory in the assembly polls and took over as Chief Minister of Karnataka, a post he held until 2004. He was also instrumental in creating power reforms with ESCOMS and digitization of land records (BHOOMI) and many other citizen friendly initiatives. He encouraged private public participation and was a fore bearer of the Bangalore Advance Task Force. He later became the Governor of Maharashtra.
Krishna resigned as Governor of Maharashtra on 5 March 2008 Krishna entered the Rajya Sabha and subsequently took the oath of office as Union Cabinet Minister of External Affairs in the Council of Ministers under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 22 May 2009.
Krishna resigned as External Affairs Minister on 26 October 2012 indicating a return to Karnataka state politics. His exit from the Congress is a big blow and would impact the party.