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Journalism of Courage
He was the Karnataka Congress’s face on both regional and national television for close to a decade, and now he is holding discussions with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
On Tuesday, Supreme Court advocate Brijesh Kalappa sprang a surprise by announcing that he had resigned from Congress party’s primary membership the day before, bringing down the curtains on an association of almost 25 years. Kalappa claimed in a Facebook post that he took the decision as he was “lacking in passion” for some time. Though Congress insiders said the veteran spokesperson was unhappy with the party for not giving him a ticket for either the Rajya Sabha polls or the Legislative Council elections, he dismissed such claims.
“Kalappa has been unhappy with the party leadership since the 2018 elections for not being given poll tickets despite being one of the senior leaders. He was one of the aspirants for the Rajya Sabha or state Legislative Council polls but was not given a ticket this time also,” a senior Congress functionary told The Indian Express.
But the former Congress spokesperson rejected the claim. “I never asked for tickets from the party to contest. I had also not asked party president D K Shivakumar or senior leader Siddaramaiah for tickets. This resignation is due to the reasons which I have stated in my resignation letter.”
In the letter, he had written, “I have been representing the party on Hindi, English and Kannada channels since the UPA years in 2013, for almost a decade, and have clocked 6,497 debates. Besides, the party has been regularly assigning political work to me which I have performed to the best of my satisfaction. Regarding TV debates, I have done my very best at all times and have never ever appeared without adequate preparation for any debate. Even at the worst of times for the party in the aftermath of (the) 2014 and 2019 debacles, I have never felt enervated and lacking in energy and enthusiasm. But, in the recent past, I have been finding myself lacking in passion, while my own performance has been listless and perfunctory.”
Meanwhile, asked about the talk of him joining the AAP, Kalappa said, “Yes, I received an invitation from the AAP, but I have not decided anything on this.”
Sources in the AAP confirmed to The Indian Express that Kalappa was in talks with the party leadership. According to insiders, the former Congress leader who is from Kodagu (Coorg) is planning to contest next year’s Assembly polls from his native Virajpet seat. He is likely to go up against former additional advocate-general and Congress spokesperson A S Ponnanna.
Kalappa started his career as a journalist in Bengaluru over three decades ago. After a brief period, he started practising law in New Delhi under his mentor and former Congress leader Kapil Sibal, who too quit the party last month. He joined the party in 1997 and rose to become a legal adviser to the Siddaramaiah-led government. He held the rank of a minister. He aspired for an Assembly election ticket from either Madikeri or the Virajpet constituencies in Kodagu district but was denied.
Kalappa’s resignation came days after popular Kannada actor and former MLC Mukhyamantri Chandru quit the Congress on being denied a nomination to the Legislative Council. Chandru will officially join the AAP in the presence of senior leaders soon, according to sources in the party.
