BJP leader NY Gopalakrishna joins Congress ahead of Assembly polls in Karnataka

Bangalore:

The accession of several BJP and JD(S) leaders to Congress ahead of the May 10 general election in Karnataka is evidence that public sentiment is in favor of the party and it will rise to power, the president of its state entity said , DK Shivakumar, on Monday .

He spoke after welcoming into the party Kudligi BJP MLA NY Gopalakrishna, who resigned as MP on Friday.

“Several BJP and JD(S) leaders are knocking on our door, this is proof that the voice of the people of the state is for Congress and that our march is on the right track towards power,” Mr. Shivakumar called.

Speaking to reporters here, he noted that Mr. Gopalakrishna had resigned as BJP MLA and joined Congress; similarly, JD(S) MLA KM Shivalinge Gowda has also resigned and will soon join the party.

The voluntarily entry of the BJP and JD(S) MPs into Congress is “great evidence” that after the “failure of the twin-engine government,” the people made a choice to change, the KPCC chief said.

“There’s a big list of people who want to join Congress… the party hasn’t promised anyone tickets. We will check every name, only if we are able to accommodate them we will consider it,” he said, adding that there are also some who are willing to join the party unconditionally to work for them.

Mr. Gopalakrishna, a six-time MLA, was previously in Congress and was elected four times from the Chitradurga District segment of the Molakalmuru Assembly and once from Ballari before joining the BJP and winning by Kudligi.

He had joined the BJP before the elections for refusing to get a congress ticket in 2018. The Saffron Party gave him a ticket from Kudligi in Vijayanagara District instead of Molakalmuru since senior leader Sriramulu was deployed from there. From then on he had won.

Recalling his and his family’s long association with Congress, Mr. Gopalakrishna said after joining that he would work for the party’s victory in Ballari, Chitradurga and Vijayanagara districts.

He said he will work to reinstall a congressional government in the state and that it is up to the party leadership to install him from the Molakalmuru Assembly segment.

Recently, two BJP MLCs – Puttanna and Baburao Chinchansur – had resigned from the Legislative Council to join Congress.

JD(S) MLA SR Srinivas (Gubbi Srinivas aka Vasu) also joined Congress after resigning as MLA on March 27.

(This story was not edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)