MLAs Somasekhar, Hebbar skip BJP meet

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Amid rumours of BJP MLA ST Somasekhar returning to the Congress, he reportedly gave a miss to the meeting on Thursday chaired by party general secretary BL Santhosh, along with Shivaram Hebbar.

Santhosh held a meeting with party leaders at the Malleswaram BJP office at which they discussed preparations for the Lok Sabha election.

According to reports, a few others besides these two leaders skipped the meeting after taking permission. Somasekhar and Hebbar were among the 14 Congress MLAs who quit the party in 2019.

However, after the defeat of the BJP in the recent election, they have hinted at returning to the Congress. They skipped the meeting organized by the general secretary, further addng to the speculation.

Former Minister MP Renukacharya also skipped the meeting as he was not happy over the party serving him a show cause notice for making statements against some party leaders.

He said he will not attend any party meetings unless it withdraws the notice and added that potential leaders are not being allowed to grow in the party.

“All legislators were invited to the meeting but some of them skipped without giving any reason. We have discussed the Congress’ operation to poach our leaders,'' Mahesh, BJP spokesperson said.