Search the Internet          Tips

Congress MP Ambareesh to
resign from Lok Sabha

In a dramatic development, ruling Congress MP Ambareesh on Wednesday announced that he would resign from his Mandya Lok Sabha seat in protest against the release of Cauvery waters to Tamil Nadu.

Mandya, about 100km from Bangalore, is the nerve centre of the ongoing farmers' agitation on the dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu over the sharing of Cauvery waters.

At an impromptu media meet in Bangalore, Ambareesh announced he was sending his resignation letter to party president Sonia Gandhi in the evening with a request to forward the same to Lok Sabha Speaker Manohar Joshi for acceptance.

"I had assured the people of my constituency, especially the affected farmers, that I would resign from the Lok Sabha if the Karnataka government releases water to Tamil Nadu."

"Now that it has been forced to release water under pressure from the Supreme Court, I have no alternative but redeem my pledge," Ambareesh stated.

The Kannada actor-turned politician said he did not intend to cause embarrassment to either the ruling party or the S M Krishna government with this 'personal decision'.

"I have informed Chief Minister S M Krishna that this decision should not be construed as defiance or an anti-party activity," Ambareesh said.

He has also appealed to the farmers to appreciate the compulsions of the state government to obey the apex court's orders.

"I request the Mandya people to call off their agitation and cooperate with the government in this hour of crisis," the MP said.

Ambareesh appealed to the farmers to lift the roadblocks and end the jail bharo agitation to restore normalcy in the district in view of the ensuing Diwali festival.

Ambareesh had been twice elected to Parliament from Mandya, in 1998 and 1999.

Incidentally, Mandya is Krishna's home district.

Cauvery Water Dispute: The Complete Coverage

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report