Pramod Madhwaraj Joins BJP Hours After Quitting Congress in Karnataka

Former Fisheries, Youth Empowerment & Sports Minister Pramod Madhwaraj, close to former CM Siddaramaiah, joined BJP.

Pramod Madhwaraj and other senior leaders of the Congress party join the BJP, one year ahead of the Assembly elections in Karnataka.

(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)

Just hours after tendering his resignation to the Indian National Congress, senior leader and former minister Pramod Madhwaraj joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on Saturday, 7 May, in Bengaluru.

Attending the ceremony hosted by the Karnataka BJP 'Congress Mukta Bharatha,' were other senior leaders of Congress party, former state minister Varthur Prakash, former MLA Manjunath Gowda, Former Rajya Sabha Member KB Krishnamurthy, former MLC Sandesh Nagaraj, Mandya Congress Leader Ashok Jayaram and former IRS Officer Ashwingowda.

Pramod Madhwaraj's resignation letter to the Congress said that his grievances weren't redressed and "no worthwhile steps had been taken" by the party.

The letter addressing KPCC President DK Shivakumar states, "Due to circumstances explained above I have reached a point wherein it is impossible for me to continue in the Congress party and do justice to the new post that has been assigned to me rececntly. Hence I have decided not to accept the Vice-Presidentship of KPCC and also to tender my resignation to the primary membership of the Congress party.”

Former Minister Madhwaraj’s decision to join adversarial ruling party has created a vacuum in Congress’s Udupi and Dakshina Kannada region. Pramod Madhwaraj’s father, popularly known as Malpe Madhwaraj, and mother Manorama Madhwaraj were both MLAs from the Congress party.

In the 2018 Assembly elections that were held in Karnataka, Pramod Madhwaraj lost the poll to BJP's Raghupati Bhat by a margin over 2,500 votes.