Lagatar24 Desk
Bengaluru, April 11: Senior BJP leader KS Eshwarappa on Tuesday announced his intention to leave electoral politics, weeks ahead of Karnataka Assembly election. Eshwarappa wrote a brief letter to party president JP Nadda in which he announced his decision to not run in the elections on May 10 and his retirement from electoral politics.
The seasoned BJP politician, whose words and accusations against him have frequently put him in the spotlight, said that his decision was made of his own free will.
Following the death of Belagavi-based contractor Santosh Patil in an Udupi hotel, the Shivamogga MLA resigned from his position as the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister last year. Eshwarappa was charged for seeking a 40% fee from the contractor.
Later, the police exonerated KS Eshwarappa in the matter of the contractor suicide.
Eshwarappa will reach the BJP’s unofficial age limit of 75 in June, which prohibits party officials from running for office and holding elected positions. Although there have also been a few rare outliers. The BJP has not yet made public its initial list of contenders for the 224-member Assembly.
Eshwarappa’s declaration was met with praise by K Annamalai, chairman of the Tamil Nadu BJP, for prioritising the needs of the party.
