Bellary: The ruling BJP in Karnataka today suffered a jolt as former minister B Sriramulu from Bellary announced that he would quit the party and contest as an Independent from the Bellary Rural assembly segment for which the bypoll will be held on November 30.

Speaking at a hurriedly convened press conference here, Mr Sriramulu said without elaborating, his ‘self esteem’ had taken a severe beating after the recent incidents.

A confidante of the arrested mining baron Gali Janardhana Reddy, he quit as MLA after he was indicted in the Lokayukta report on illegal mining in Karnataka.

Following their indictment, neither the Reddy brothers nor Sriramulu were reindicted in the D V Sadananda Gowda cabinet after former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurrappa was asked to quit by the BJP High Command after being named in the Lokayukta report.

”The way I was treated was nothing but an insult and none of us from Bellary deserved it. I can never with my self-respect and pride at any cost. So I have decided to quit the party and contest as an independent in the coming bye-poll to Bellary rural segment,’’ he said.