Days after 4 BJP leaders join Cong, a lot more cooking

Umar Sharieef

Bengaluru:

Only a few days after four BJP leaders hopped over to the Congress, which is barely a month before the state goes to the Assembly polls, the influx within Congress rages on. Party hopping, including that of incumbent MLAs from the BJP as also those from the Janta Dal (Secular), peaked a few weeks ago amid preparation for the all-important elections. This happened around the time Home Minister Amit Shah visited the state.

This, however, has left Congress with too many leaders to contend with. NY Gopalakrishna, Kudligi BJP MLA and a six times legislator was the latest to join the Congress on April 3, taking the number of such entrants into the grand old party to four. He was previously with the Congress before joining BJP and has won four times from the Molakalmuru Assembly in Chitradurga and one time from Ballari. While he resigned from his post on Friday, speculations are rife that the Congress is likely to give him a seat, giving further room for dissent within the party.

The BJP, on the other hand, welcomed AT Ramasway, JD(S) MLA from the Arkalgud constituency. The three-time MLA joined the saffron party last week. Tussle between BJP leaders To add fuel to the dissent within the BJP, MLC Ayyanur Manjunath has threatened to resign if he is not given a ticket to contest, opposing the party high command’s decision to give a ticket to S Eshwarappa. Manjunath belongs to the dominant Lingayat community, whose might spreads across a hundred constituencies of the total 224 seats.

The community that accounts for at least 17 per cent of the state’s population is said to be particularly strong in North Karnataka. While this has sent a strong message to the party, the BJP continues to remain silent over the issue. News Trail’s multiple attempts to reach the Karnataka BJP leaders and spokespersons failed. Advantage Congress? KPCC chief DK Shivakumar on April 3 said the BJP leaders joining the Congress party was evidence that they wanted to be part of a prospective change in the state.

Taking to Twitter, he extended a warm welcome to NY Gopalakrishna with: “Shri NY, a senior leader who was also a MLA, Gopalakrishna joined the party today believing in the tenets of the Congress. Warmly welcome him and wish him a happy future political career”. He, however, denied that new inductees had been promised a ticket to contest and added they joined the party “unconditionally”. Age factor the reason for Ramaswamy to quit JD(S) The JD(S) claimed that Ramaswamy had lost the people's support.

“He has crossed the age to contest elections,” said JD(S) spokesperson Rangothrikumar. Asked if his exit would cause damage to the party, he said “it will not”. He was quick to add that his presence In the BJP would bring no change to them either. “He demanded a seat to contest but the party has decided to give the Arkalgud constituency ticket to MLA A Manju as the former had lost support,” the spokesperson added. Ramaswamy hails from the populous Vokkaliga community, which makes up 11.5 per cent of the state’s total population.