SHIMOGA: The decision of former Shimoga MP Ayanur Manjunath to quit the Congress and rejoin the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has evoked strong reactions from both the parties.

While Congress leaders have termed it an act of political opportunism some BJP leaders expressed their aversion to it though they have decided to abide by the decision to be taken by the State BJP president D.V. Sadananda Gowda and the three ministers hailing from the district.

Meanwhile, Mr. Manjunath told The Hindu here on Saturday that his joining of the BJP at a function to be held here on Sunday had been postponed in view of the lunar eclipse and the holi festival. It would be held in two or three days, he added.

Reacting to Mr. Manjunath's decision to quit the Congress, president of the District Congress Committee and MLC Mir Azeez Ahmed told presspersons on Saturday that he was admitted to the Congress only at the instance of the party High Command and not because of the local support he had.

Referring to the allegation by Mr. Manjunath that he was forced to leave the Congress as it had become "inert and inactive" in the district, Mr. Ahmed said that it was only an alibi for him to leave the party. "If at all Mr. Manjunath suffered uneasiness in a secular party like the Congress it was because of his RSS links which might have created the suffocating atmosphere for him in the party," he added.

KPCC general secretary Manjunath Bhandary said former Chief Minister S.M. Krishna and former State Congress president B. Janardhana Poojary took a hasty decision to admit Mr. Manjunath to the party without eliciting the views of Congress workers.

He said that since Congress president Sonia Gandhi endorsed their decision, the party workers abided by it. Mr. Manjunath should not have alleged that the party was "inactive" and "inert" at the district level. "If he was so concerned about the party, he should have taken the initiative to strengthen it on his own," he added.

Congress MLA B.K. Sangamesh said Mr. Manjunath's decision to resign from the Congress was prompted more by his personal considerations. He said Mr. Manjunath changed three parties in the past three years and this only spoke of his political opportunism.

Meanwhile, the district unit of the BJP has reacted cautiously to Mr. Manjunath's decision to rejoin it.

State unit secretary and former district unit president M.B. Bhanu Prakash, who had unsuccessfully contested against Mr. Manjunath in the last Lok Sabha election, said the party workers would abide by the decision of the party leadership.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail