BENGALURU: Former minister and state BJP president B.S. Yeddyurappa’s trusted lieutenant, B.J. Puttaswamy, quit the post of chairman of OBC Morcha of the party, to protest the party’s decision of denying him another term as Member of the Legislative Council. Mr Puttaswamy, who stood by Mr Yeddyurappa through trying times, sent a three page resignation letter to the Lingayat strongman on Monday, saying: "I am pained to see my perseverance, commitment, loyalty and risking my life to defend you, failed. I still can’t make out why an abrupt end was brought to my active political life at this age. The media considers me as a close confidant. And I too lived upto your expectations. I would like to request you to accept my resignation.”
Soon after he was elected CM in 2008, Mr Yeddyurappa had resurrected Mr Puttaswamy’s career and appointed him as his political secretary. Later, he was nominated to the Council. During his stint as political secretary, Mr Puttaswamy stood by Mr Yeddyurappa and took on members of JD(S) patriarch H D Deve Gowda’s kin when they targeted the former CM. He also unearthed a number of cases of alleged illegal deals to counter the attack against Mr Yeddyurappa. At one point, anti-social elements purportedly instigated by JD (S) attacked Mr Puttaswamy’s residence. He was subsequently provided with additional security by the state government.
In his resignation letter, Mr Puttaswamy claimed that as OBC morcha chief, he travelled the length and breadth of the state in order to network with members of OBC communities on the party’s behalf, in spite of confusion over another outfit, Sangolli Rayanna Brigade formed by K.S. Eshwarappa working parallely. He claimed to have organized a massive OBC convention in Bengaluru to drum up support of OBCs for the BJP.
