Bangalore: A mine owner of Bellary and local BJP leader Tapal Ganesh on Monday decided to quit BJP, which he joined in November 2011, protesting against the saffron party’s failure to dump mining baron G Janardhana Reddy and his supporters.

Ganesh was brought into the party by state unit BJP leaders when its former minister B Sreeramulu contested the Bellary Rural bypoll as an independent with the promise that the jailed Janardhana Reddy, his brother Karunakara Reddy and their associates would not remain in the party.

In a letter to BJP state unit President K S Eswarappa, Ganesh said he was embarassed to remain in the party in which the Reddy brothers continue to remain. BJP had not honoured its promise of removing them from the party, he said.

Ganesh has been fighting the Reddy brothers for their alleged involvement in illegal mining in Karnataka, particularly in Bellary district.