Mangaluru: Former Congress Minister B. Ramanath Rai, who lost from Bantval Constituency as the Congress candidate in the just held Assembly polls, has announced retirement from active politics.

Addressing a press meet here yesterday, Rai, who served as a Minister in the previous Siddharamaiah led Congress Government, thanked the people for voting the Congress to power in the State. Maintaining that he lost from Bantval by a small margin, he said he thought it fit to quit electoral politics considering his age. He however said that he would continue to work for the Congress party.