Former MLC HR Srinath returns to Congress fold

NT Correspondent
Bengaluru

Former MLC HR Srinath on Sunday joined the Congress in the presence of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president D.K. Shivakumar, former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Leader Of Opposition in the Council B.K. Hariprasad, among other party veterans at the KPCC office in Bengaluru.

Srinath and his father H.G. Ramulu had been a longtime Congressman and both had quit the party in 2018 and joined the JD(S). Now both are rejoining the party.

The grand old party hopes to win all five Assembly constituencies in Koppal district in the upcoming 2023 polls riding on the grassroots support of the Ramulu family, party bigwigs said. Shivakumar declared that Congress had been the home of the Ramulu family, adding that they had an old association with the Nehru-Gandhis.

“Today is a special day for Koppal district and the Kalyana Karnataka region. H.G. Ramulu’s family enjoys an excellent relationship with the Gandhi family. Indira Gandhi had visited their home many times. However, a few weeks ago, they left the party due to a few reasons. About seven or eight months ago, I had met with Srinath’s father HG Ramulu and had asked to forget bygones and rejoin the Congress,” he said.

“Today, Srinath is joining the party without any stipulations. The only condition is that the Congress should win,” Shivakumar said.

Srinath said: “Today is a very happy day. I am once again joining the Congress party, which flows in my very blood. My father was very dear to Indira Gandhi. When she visited the state, she visited our house many times.”

He claimed that the Union Home Minister Amit Shah had asked him to join the BJP, but he refused because he disliked politics that targeted the poor, Dalits and minorities.

Siddaramaiah said: “Srinath, along with his supporters are leaving the JD(S) joining the Congress. Ramulu had from the beginning been a Congress family. He had been an influential leader in the region and consequently, we had been very strong in that region.”