MYSURU: Janata Dal (Secular) leader Abdul Aziz, who had sought a ticket from Narasimharaja Assembly constituency here, has resigned from the party. This is a big setback for the party, sources said.
Abdul Aziz’s resignation letter from the primary membership of the party and the post of secretary of the state unit has been submitted to the state president C M Ibrahim. The JD(S) is yet to announce a candidate for this constituency after the resignation of Abdul Aziz.
As per sources, his name hasn’t been announced in the first list even though he contested in 2018 and lost. He had a good connection with the voters though he wasn’t given priority, which made him take such a decision.
Along with his supporters, he met Congress legislature party leader Siddaramaiah in Bengaluru on Friday and is likely to join Congress soon.
While the Opposition Congress and JD(S) have announced 166 and 93 candidates, respectively so far, the ruling BJP is yet to announce its first list of candidates for the Assembly election.
Elections are slated to be held in Karnataka in a single phase on May 10, and the counting of votes will take place on May 13. Karnataka, which has 224 seats in the Assembly currently has 119 MLAs of the ruling BJP, while Congress has 75 and JD(S) has 28 seats. The model code of conduct came into effect after elections were announced in the state on March 29. (ANI)