The Hindu

Udupi, Oct 22: Manorama Madhwaraj, Udupi MP, said on Tuesday that she had resigned as an MP.  Addressing presspersons here, Madhwaraj said that she handed over her resignation letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee’s secretary on Monday.

Stating that Chatterjee was not in his office at that time, she said that she had telephoned him to inform her decision to resign.

Madhwaraj said that she would join the Congress soon. “I will meet All India Congress Committee president Sonia Gandhi soon. Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment Oscar Fernandes and Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad are in touch with me. Former Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi had encouraged me in the Congress,” she said. She did not want any position in the party. She was not aspiring to become an MP or MLA. “If the party gives me ticket to contest the Council election, I will consider it,” she said.

Madhwaraj said that she did not leave the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), but it had expelled her. She had abstained from voting in Parliament because she was against coal-based thermal power plants. “I oppose the 1,015 MW coal-based thermal power plant coming up at Yellur in Udupi district. None of the BJP leaders supported me in my fight against the plant,” she said. She termed baseless the BJP’s allegation that she had abstained from voting because of inducements.

Kunnur resigns

Dharwad South MP Manjunath Kunnur also resigned from the Lok Sabha on Monday. Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee announced on Tuesday that he had accepted the resignations of Ms. Madhwaraj and Mr. Kunnur.

Kunnur defied the party whip and had voted in favour of the trust vote in Lok Sabha on July 22.