MLA Ambareesh resigns after Karnataka cabinet reshuffle

As discontent simmered over the reshuffle of his ministry by Chief Minister Sidddaramaiah, cine-actor turned politician Ambareesh on Monday resigned as member of the Karnataka legislative assembly.

Ambareesh sent a one line resignation letter addressed to the Assembly Speaker through his personal assistant, the move coming a day after Siddaramaiah dropped 14 ministers and inducted 13 others in the major revamp.

Deputy Speaker Shivashankara Reddy, who is officiating as the speaker's post is lying vacant with Kagodu Thimmappa being appointed as the cabinet minister, has not accepted the letter as the member himself did not submit it.

"Ambareesh has sent a letter of resignation through some other person; any such letter will be considered valid if the member himself submits it. I have sent it back," Shivashankar Reddy told PTI.

The resignation letter states he is resigning as MLA of Mandya constituency, without assigning any reason.

Ambareesh was the housing minister before he was dropped.

He had earlier also served as Member of Parliament and was minister of state for information and broadcasting, but had resigned from the Lok Sabha membership, expressing dissatisfaction with the Cauvery Dispute Tribunal award.

Ambareesh's supporters in Mandya continued their protest for the second consecutive day on Monday.

They had blocked the Bengaluru-Mysuru highway on Sunday.

Resentment is brewing within Congress after the reshuffle, with several dropped ministers and those who were aspiring to join the cabinet openly expressing their unhappiness against the party leadership.

The ministers who faced the axe are: Qamarul Islam,  Shamanoor Shivashankarappa, V Srinivasa Prasad, M H Ambareesh, Vinay Kumar Sorake, Satish Jarkiholi, Baburao Chinchansoor, Shivaraj Sangappa Tangadagi, S R Patil, Manohar Tahasildhar, K Abayachandra Jain, Dinesh Gundu Rao, Kimmane Ratnakar and P T Parameshwar Naik.

Srinivasa Prasad and Islam are among others who have made no secret of their displeasure over being dropped.

Supporters of Srinivas Prasad had called for a bandh in Chamarajanagar and Nanjangud on Monday.

Similar protests by supporters of various aspirants Congress MLA's and dropped ministers have been reported from different parts of the state.