Mangaluru:  SCDCC Bank chairman Dr. MN Rajendra Kumar has backtracked from his contest the Karnataka Legislative Council polls to be held on December 10.

Making an official announcement on Saturday, he said, “I want to remain non-partisan in the field of cooperation, so I will stay away from politics and work for the upliftment of the cooperative sector.”

My fans requested me to stand for elections as an Independent. Once someone contests in an election, you will naturally have to go for a party and I don’t want to do that. I have decided not to contest,” and added that he won’t change his mind even if Congress gives a ticket.

Dr. M. N. Rajendra Kumar was the ticket aspiration candidate from the Congress party. Since there was no chance to get ticket, he decided to contest independently. It is now known that Manjunath Bhandari’s name is almost finalised from the Dakshina Kannada district.