Party- hopping gains pace in Mandya as elections to Lok Sabha come closer

NT Correspondent

Mandya: As elections to Mandya parliamentary constituency draw near, party-hopping is gaining pace in the sugar bowl of the state.

For mer JD(S) MLCs Marithibbegowda and N Appajigowda, former ZP president Taggahalli Venkatesh and former Zilla Panchayat member H N Yogesh, who is the son- inlaw of three time JD(S) Mandya MLA M Srinivas joined the Congress in the presence of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy CM D K Shivakumar and other top brass of the party in Bengaluru on Friday.

They were all JD(S) leaders and close associates of former chief minister and state JD(S) president H D Kumaraswamy.

Speculation is rife in Mandya political circles that a few more JD(S) leaders will exit from the party and join the Congress in the coming days.

As the Congress has fielded realtor and builder Venkataramana Gowda also known as Star Chandru, the 'money factor' is likely to play a key role during the parliamentary polls.

Marithibbegowda who represented the South Teachers Constituency as a member of the legislative council four times, is one of the influential leaders of the JD(S).

Gowda has maintained a distance from the JD(S) for the last one year. The exit of another JD(S) strongman N Appajigowda has also come as a jolt to the JD(S).

He was elected as an an MLC from the Urban Local Bodies constituency in 2015 on a JD(S) ticket. After denial of ticket to contest the assembly polls from Nagamanagala, he was miffed with the JD(S) and became close to minister N Cheluvarayaswamy.

Tagahalli Venkatesh rebelled against the JD(S) in the assembly polls and contested as an independent candidate from Srirangapatna assembly constituency.

Former Mandya MLA M Srinivas and his son in law H N Yogesh are lso upset with the JD(S) following the denial of ticket.