Congress rebel star' softens stand, not to quit as MLA

Bengaluru: A day before the commencement of the Monsoon session of the state legislature, rebel Congress leader and former minister, M.H. Ambareesh on Sunday dropped enough hints that he was backing off from his earlier stand of resigning from his MLA seat on the first day of the session.

Speaking to reporters after meeting several leaders from Mandya district as well as AICC general secretary B. K. Hariprasad here, Mr Ambareesh chose to soften his stand on resigning from his seat. “Many leaders from Mandya had been meeting me and pressurising me not to resign as a MLA. They are also angry with me for unilaterally announcing my decision to resign as a MLA. Hence, I have decided to convene a meeting of my supporters in Mandya, where I will decide my future course of action,” he declared.

According to him this meeting will be crucial as far as his stand taken over ill-treatment meted out to him by Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah is concerned. “I have been maintaining that I am certainly pained and let down by the Chief Minister, who chose to drop us instead of seeking our resignation from our respective posts. I strongly feel that I have been wronged unnecessarily. Even as I feel I have been wronged, I will abide by the decision of party senior leaders, who have shared their feelings with me,” he said. However, he refrained from disclosing details of his interaction with party central leaders.

Meanwhile sources in the party told this newspaper that AICC general secretary, Mr Hariprasad  met Mr Ambareesh to persuade him not to resign from the Assembly. “After the failure on the part of AICC secretary, Dr  A. Challa Kumar just two days ago, party central leaders had deputed Mr Hariprasad to broker peace between Mr Ambareesh and Mr Siddaramaiah. The former apparently continued to lash out at Mr Siddaramaiah for dropping him from the Cabinet,” the source explained.