Congress parliamentarian from Karnataka K C Ramamurthy on Wednesday resigned from Rajya Sabha and also from the party, indicating he might join the BJP while rubbishing claims that he quit fearing I-T raids.
His resignation as MP has been accepted by House Chairman M Venkaiah Nadu, sources said in New Delhi. Ramamurthy is likely to join the ruling BJP in coming days, party sources said.
Reacting to Ramamurthy's resignation, Karnataka Congress hit out at BJP, alleging the ruling party had made it an "industry" to engineer defection of other party members through "allurements" and "blackmailing".
Speaking to reporters in the national capital, Ramamurthy, a former IPS officer, said he has resigned from the Rajya Sabha and also from the Congress.
He said he wanted his experience to be used "properly in the path of progress and development."
To a question about reports that he would soon join the BJP, Ramamurthy said he was keeping that option open.
Ramamurthy said he had written to Congress President Sonia Gandhi informing her about his resignation and clarified he has noting against any leader of the party.
He dismissed claims that he quit Congress under pressure of BJP or fearing I-T raids.
"There is no such thing," he said.
In Bengaluru, Karnataka Pradesh Congress President Dinesh Gundu Rao said the party cannot do anything if people left it becase of personal motives.
"We can't do anything about it, because of personal motives if they do such things what can we do? If he wants to join BJP, he can, this is democracy," he told reporters.
Attacking the BJP, he said it "has made it an industry to lure everyone to their fold, also through blackmailing, I-T and ED raids, and by threatening."
"People are going (to BJP) out of fear or allurements, what can we do, nothing," he added.
In the recent past, Bhubneshwar Kalita and Sanjay Singh, both from the Congress, had resigned from the upper house.
Neeraj Shekhar, Surendra Singh Nagar and Sanjay Seth had recently quit the Samajwadi Party and given up their Rajya Sabha membership to join the BJP. They were later re-elected to the Upper House on a BJP ticket, boosting the strength of the ruling party in Rajya Sabha where it lacks majority.
In June this year, four Telugu Desam Party members from Rajya Sabha had joined the BJP.
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