K'taka: 2 BJP ministers quit, set to join Congress

Ruling the Bhartiya Janata Party suffered a fresh setback in poll-bound Karnataka with two more ministers quitting the Jagadish Shettar cabinet on Thursday, amid indications that they would join the Congress.

Forest Minister C P Yogeeshwara and Small Scale Industries Minister Rajugouda alias Narasimha Nayak tendered their resignations to the chief minister on Thursday.

Earlier, they also met Governor H R Bhardwaj, terming it a "courtesy visit".

The two said they would resign from the primary membership of the party and also submit their resignation from Assembly membership to Speaker K G Bopaiah.

The sources said Yogeeshwara and Rajugouda have been promised by central Congress leaders that they would be taken into the party fold.

The BJP has been reeling under a resignation spree ahead of elections to urban local bodies (excluding Bangalore) on March 7 and the assembly polls expected in May.

Public Works Minister C M Udasi and Energy Minister Shobha Karandlaje, loyalists of former BJP chief minister B S  Yeddyurappa, had quit last month along with 11 members MLAs who resigned from Assembly membership.

Sources claimed that several BJP MLAs, including some ministers, have knocked at the doors of the Congress, which is in the process of taking a call on their entry into the party.