Former BJP MLAs Malikayya Guttedar, Sharada Shetty join Congress
Bengaluru (PTI): Two former BJP MLAs Malikayya Guttedar and Sharada Mohan Shetty on Friday joined the Congress, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
Guttedar is a six-time MLA from Afzalpur in Kalaburagi district and a former Minister.
Kalaburagi is the home district of Congress President M Mallikarjun Kharge, who successfully contested the 2009 and 2014 Lok Sabha elections from there but lost in the 2019 polls.
Kharge's son-in-law Radhakrishna Doddamani is contesting from Kalaburagi (Gulbarga) in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Guttedar was supposedly upset with the induction of his brother Nithin Venkaiah Guttedar into the BJP earlier this month.
M Y Patil from Congress had won Afzalpur seat in the 2023 Assembly election, in which Malikayya Guttedar had finished third behind Nithin, who contested as an independent.
Malikayya, who was previously with the Congress and had joined the BJP later, had been criticising BJP veteran and former Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and his son B Y Vijayendra the state BJP president, after his brother's move to the party.
According to sources, Karnataka Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister and Kharge's son, Priyank Kharge, played a crucial role in bringing him back to the Congress fold.
Sharada Mohan Shetty was a Congress MLA from Kumta in Uttara Kannada district from 2013 to 2018. She had switched over to the BJP after being denied a ticket in the 2018 Assembly elections.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, his deputy D K Shivakumar, who is the State Congress chief, and Priyank Kharge welcomed the two leaders and their supporters into the party fold.
Siddaramaiah said he knew that Malikayya Guttedar would not remain in the BJP for long because he is 'pro-social justice'.
ಕೆಪಿಸಿಸಿ ಅಧ್ಯಕ್ಷರು ಹಾಗು ಡಿಸಿಎಂ @DKShivakumar, ಸಿಎಂ @siddaramaiah ಅವರ ಸಮ್ಮುಖದಲ್ಲಿ ಮಾಜಿ ಶಾಸಕರಾದ ಮಾಲೀಕಯ್ಯ ಗುತ್ತೇದಾರ್ ಹಾಗೂ ಶಾರದಾ ಮೋಹನ್ ಶೆಟ್ಟಿ ಅವರು ಕೆಪಿಸಿಸಿ ಕಚೇರಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಕಾಂಗ್ರೆಸ್ ಪಕ್ಷಕ್ಕೆ ಸೇರ್ಪಡೆಯಾದರು. ಸಚಿವರಾದ @PriyankKharge, ಕೆ.ಎನ್ ರಾಜಣ್ಣ ಸೇರಿದಂತೆ ಹಲವರು ಉಪಸ್ಥಿತರಿದ್ದರು. pic.twitter.com/CT2Rpsye7f
— Karnataka Congress (@INCKarnataka) April 19, 2024
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BJP will form govt in Bengal with thumping majority: Nabin
Mirzapur (UP) (PTI): BJP president Nitin Nabin on Wednesday voiced confidence that his party will form the government in West Bengal with a "thumping majority".
Polling is underway for 142 constituencies in the second and final phase of the West Bengal assembly elections, covering key districts, including Kolkata, Howrah and North and South 24 Parganas.
The high-stakes contest is being seen as decisive for the ruling TMC's bid for a fourth consecutive term and the BJP's push to form its first government in the state. The first phase held on April 23 recorded a high voter turnout of over 93 per cent, reflecting intense electoral engagement.
Speaking to reporters in Mirzapur, Nabin said, "The BJP will form the government in Bengal. We are winning the elections with a massive majority."
Earlier in the day, the BJP chief visited the Vindhyavasini temple and offered prayers. The rituals were conducted by his priest Acharya Agastya Kumar Dwivedi.
On his first visit to the district after assuming office, Nabin was welcomed by party workers at several places. At the temple, he was received by city MLA Ratnakar Mishra and District Magistrate Pawan Kumar Gangwar, who felicitated him with a traditional 'angvastram'.
After offering prayers for about 10 minutes amid Vedic chants, Nabin held a meeting at a hotel with local MLAs, including Mishra, Majhwan MLA Suchismita Maurya and Madihan MLA Ramashankar Patel.
Patel said Nabin emphasised strengthening the organisation and asked public representatives to focus on serving people in their respective constituencies.
Several party leaders, including district president Lal Bahadur Saroj, district vice-president Gaurav Umar, municipal chairperson Shyam Sundar Kesari, women workers and senior officials, were present on the occasion.
Elaborate security arrangements were put in place by the district administration for the visit, with multiple officers of circle officer rank deployed, officials said.
