BJP's controversial MP plans to quit politics?

Karwar: Ananth Kumar Hegde, MP for Uttara Kannada district, has sent signals to his bosses in BJP about his disinclination to continue in politics. The party leadership may soon find a replacement for him considering the embarrassment he has caused them on multiple occasions.

Hegde, a firebrand leader of the BJP, has won four times and also handled Skill Development portfolio which is Prime Minister Narendra Modi's dream ministry. Hegde dropped hints about his disinterest in continuing in politics in a speech he made after inaugurating the Pradhan Mantri Grama Sadak Yojana.

The statement, coming from the BJP's fiery leader, has alarmed BJP members in Uttara Kannada's highly sensitive district. "I didn't have a vision of how politics should operate, nor did I have a list of what politics should do for me or my people." So far, everything has gone as it should and was supposed to. "I thank my voters for their faith in me throughout the last four terms in the Lok Sabha," he added.

Hegde was in news for making a contentious statement. He was the first MP in the country to proclaim, "It is sufficient if only Hindus vote for me." At other time, he went on record questioning if Mahatma Gandhi was really a 'Mahatma' shocking even the party's hardliner leadership.

What made Ananth to make such a statement? when asked, the Uttara Kannada BJP leaders said, "Ananth has crossed all barriers of being a hardliner. It is also not correct to say that he was peeved for being removed from the Modi cabinet. He is the last one to stick to power. Yes, there were things that did not go as he wanted, which might have prompted him to make this statement".