Bengaluru:

Senior BJP leader KS Eshwarappa today said he would not contest the May 10 Karnataka election amid growing speculation about the party delaying the announcement of candidates.

“I am withdrawing from electoral politics,” Mr Eshwarappa said in a letter to BJP president JP Nadda.

“The party gave me a lot of responsibilities in the last 40 years. I went from a booth in-charge to state party chief. I also had the honour of becoming Deputy Chief Minister,” he wrote.

This may have been a preemptive move by Mr Eshwarappa, who had hinted last month that he may be dropped as a candidate.