Former Minister H Vishwanath finally bids emotional goodbye to Congress

Bengaluru: Former state minister and member of parliament Adagur H Vishwanath formally bid good bye to Congress party on June 23 by submitting his resignation to State Congress President G Parameshwara. The veteran leader turned emotional, when he submitted his resignation papers thereby severing the 4-decade-old association with the party.

He is likely to join Janata Dal (Secular) in the near future after touring several parts of the state. The exact date of joining JDS is not yet known but he is likely to enter the regional party fold in the presence of former prime minister and party Supremo H D Devegowda in a massive convention in Hunsur during next week. He is likely to contest from Hunsur constituency in the forthcoming Assembly elections on JDS ticket.

A bitter critic of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Vishwanath is a prolific writer and a good orator. Their relationship worsened when Vishwanath lost in the last Lok Sabha elections from Mysuru–Kodagu seat, which eventually resulted in the party sidelining him. The veteran Congress leader now joins stalwarts S M Krishna and R Srinivas Prasad, who quit the party recently.

JDS aims to capitalise on his inclusion in its fold to garner Kuruba community votes against Siddaramaiah in the Mysuru region.Vishwanath criticised Siddaramaiah’s style of functioning and alleged that the crusader who sounded the bugle against corruption ended up getting drenched in the same soup. The atmosphere in the Congress party is suffocating with no internal democracy, Vishwanth alleged.