Bengaluru, Aug 7: Karnataka Legislative Council Chairman Basavaraj Horatti resigned on Friday, claiming that he was asked to resign by the Congress dispensation.
Speaking to reporters later, Horatti said the Congress leaders told him that they would move a no-confidence motion against him.
Before resigning, Horatti met Shivakumar and Congress state president B K Hariprasad, who is also an MLC, and said he would resign.
In his resignation letter, he wrote that he was resigning ‘voluntarily’.
“I have already submitted my resignation and the matter is over now,” he said.
He also admitted that there was pressure on him to resign.
Horatti, who was previously in Janata Dal (Secular), had joined the BJP on May 18, 2022, a year before Congress came to power in Karnataka.
The Congress government led by D K Shivakumar mounted pressure on him to resign ahead of the Legislative Session starting from August 13.
After the resignation was submitted, Shivakumar told reporters that he had a meeting with Horatti, explaining to him the ‘political realities’.
“He (Horatti) himself has very respectfully tendered his resignation today, and it has been accepted,” Shivakumar said.
The chief minister added that he has requested him to continue as chairman until a new chairman is elected.
“On August 14, there will be an election for the Chairman of the Council. There will also be an election for the Deputy Chairman, and he (Horatti) will act as the pro-tem Chairman. After the Deputy Chairman is elected, we will keep the process of electing the Council Chairman on the same evening,” Shivakumar said. (PTI)
