Bengaluru: The decks have been cleared for the entry of Chincholi MLA Dr Umesh Jadhav into the Lok Sabha fray from Kalaburagi on a BJP ticket with Assembly Speaker K.R. Ramesh Kumar accepting his resignation from the House.
His resignation had triggered a row between the Congress and BJP with the ruling party insisting that he should be disqualified for refusing to pay heed to a whip issued by the party to attend the Congress Legislature party(CLP) meeting. If he had been disqualified, Dr Jadhav would have become ineligible to contest the polls for six years, said sources. However, the Speaker has chosen to accept his resignation from the House instead of disqualifying him.
During the recent Operation Lotus launched by the BJP to lure Congress MLAs and bring down the coalition government, Dr Jadhav was one of those targeted by the saffron party. When they became convinced that he would not return to the Congress fold, KPCC President Dinesh Gundurao and coalition co-ordination committee chairman Siddaramaiah submitted an application to the Speaker, seeking his disqualification from the Assembly.
On March 4, Dr Jadhav submitted his resignation as MLA to the Speaker Ramesh Kumar who conducted two hearings before accepting the resignation.
Dr Jadhav will now take on Congress strongman M Mallikarjun Kharge in Kalaburagi. He is expected to give a tough fight with the help of some senior Congressmen of the region including Baburao Chinchansur and Malikayya Guttedar who have quit the party to join the BJP recently, disgusted over Kharge senior patronising his son Priyank while neglecting their aspirations.
