Former Rajya Sabha MP and Karnataka Congress leader KC Ramamurthy joins BJP

Karnataka Congress leader and former Rajya Sabha MP, KC Ramamurthy joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday at the party headquarters in New Delhi.

Ramamurthy had resigned from the Rajya Sabha last week.

Speaking after his induction into the BJP, he said, "Very happy to join BJP. I had to work in Congress by killing my conscience .. PM's policies for national unity, development etc. are admirable. Congress was not using my merit as a party member."

On October 16, he had submitted his resignation as MP to Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu.

Ramamurthy's resignation brought down Karnata's representation in the upper house to 11. He became a member of the Rajya Sabha in July 2016 and his term would have come to an end on June 2022.

His resignation adds to the long list of Karnataka leaders who resigned from the Congress to join the BJP after the party came to power at the Centre for the second consecutive term in the Lok Sabha elections.

Earlier in July, 17 Congress and JDS MLAs resigned, plunging the state government in crisis, and eventually bringing down the coalition government in the state.