Soon after the disqualified Karnataka MLAs joined the Bharatiya Janata Party, the party announced their candidature in the by-elections scheduled for December 5raising the tempo for a high-pitched political battle in the State..
“In an effort to serve the People more effectively,16 former MLAs are beginning a new journey with BJP from today. Under the leadership of President @nalinkateel and CM @BSYBJP, we wholeheartedly welcome them to Our Party, and wish them the very best,” tweeted BJP’s Karnataka unit.
As the disqualified Karnataka MLAs (14 from Congress and three from Janata Dal Secular) joined the BJP, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa assured them that “they will fulfil all promises made to them”. He even addressed the MLAs as ‘future MLAs and future Ministers’, indicating promises the party had made to these rebels when they resigned as MLAs from Congress and JDS in July.
Later, the Chief Minister urged party workers to sink their differences and work for their victory in the interests of party’s future in the forth coming by-elections.
“It is because of the extraordinary sacrifice of these leaders that there is a BJP government and I am the chief minister in the State today. We need to remember that and work towards victory of each of these leaders,” he told party workers.
Congress
The Congress, which has already announced the names of candidates for seven constituencies, is playing a waiting game for other parties to choose their candidates. For it sees a few from the BJP and JD(S) joining it. Meanwhile, a four-time BJP MLA from Belagavi district, Raju Kage, quit the BJP to join Congress. “Indications are there for more leaders from BJP to join Congress,” said a senior Congress party functionary.
JD(S)
The day also saw JD(S) also hitting the poll button by announcing candidates. The JDS leader and former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy while releasing the candidates list for 10 of 15 constituencies, said the names for the rest would be announced on Friday.
The former Chief Minister also made it clear that the party is supporting Sharath Bache Gowda, son of BJP MP from Chikkaballapur BN Bachegowda, as he is contesting as an Independent.
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.