Bengaluru (News18): Former external affairs minister and veteran Congress leader SM Krishna said here on Saturday that he will quit the party’s working committee and leave politics.

Krishna has served as Karnataka chief minister, Maharashtra governor and speaker of the Karnataka Assembly.

He has been credited with putting Bengaluru on the global map by steering the IT revolution in the state.

A lawyer by training, the 85-year-old leader has not given out any details on what prompted this sudden decision.

He is believed to have written to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, informing her that he would no longer be able to play an active role in politics.

Krishna refused to talk to the media, saying he has convened a press conference on Sunday and will speak at length there.

Party leaders in Karnataka were caught unawares with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah saying he does not have any inkling of this. Home minister G Parameshwara, who has enjoyed some camaraderie with Krishna and served in his cabinet said he is shocked beyond words and would react to this news only after speaking to other party colleagues.

Party men are also wondering if Krishna has been feeling a tad neglected, considering he hasn't been invited for any of the party’s strategy meetings over issues such as demonetisation.

"I won't read too much into this. He has stopped being active for some time now and this is just a graceful exit that he has chosen. We all have a lot to learn from him," AICC spokesperson Dinesh Gundu Rao told News18.

Former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda said he had no information on the political retirement of Krishna.

Opposition leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjuna Kharge, who has worked closely with Krishna earlier, too said he was caught off guard by the news.