Chikkamagalur: Former Kadur JD(S) MLA Y.S.V. Datta, who was defeated from Kadur Constituency of Chikkamagalur district, has decided to take out ‘Prayaschitha Padayatra’ (a march of repentance) commencing on June 24, marking his 70th birthday.

Datta, who had quit JD(S) months ago to join the Congress in the hope of getting the Congress ticket from Kadur, was dejected when the party denied him the ticket last month. Subsequently he returned to his parent party JD(S) and contested the polls once again from Kadur in the just held Assembly polls, which he however lost.

In an appeal to the voters of Kadur on Tuesday, Datta, who was elected from Kadur on a JD(S) ticket in the 2013 Assembly polls,  said he had been with the people of Kadur for the last 17 years and was ever indebted to the love and support they extended to him.

He also clarified that his padayatra had nothing to do with any future election.

In the meantime, he held a meeting with his supporters at Kadur in the presence of Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna. He expressed his disappointment over Datta’s decision to quit electoral politics and insisted that he should not take such a decision as victory and loss is common in politics.