Ex-BJP MLA U B Banakar joins Congress
Bengaluru, Nov 21: Former BJP MLA U B Banakar, who was sulking in his party for some time, on Monday joined the Congress along with his supporters.
Banakar, son of former Karnataka assembly speaker B G Banakar, hails from Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai's home district Haveri.
His entry into the Congress was on the cards ever since he resigned from the posts of Karnataka Warehouse Corporation chairman and the director of Veerashaiva Lingayat Development Corporation on November 9. Banakar had also resigned from the BJP's primary membership.
Banakar had been a loyalist of former chief minister B S Yediyurappa. He had first become MLA on a BJP ticket in 1994.
He had walked out of the BJP when Yediyurappa founded Karnataka Janata Paksha in 2013 ahead of the assembly election that year and won the assembly election against B C Patil (incumbent agriculture minister) from Hirekerur.
Banakar had been sulking in the party for being sidelined along with his supporters in Hirekerur.
Along with Banakar, JD(S) N T Srinivas too joined the Congress.
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For supporters, ''Thalapathy'' Vijay becomes ''Muthalamaichar'' Vijay
Chennai (PTI): As actor-politician Vijay-led TVK appeared inching towards the majority mark of 118 Assembly seats out of the total 234 segments in Tamil Nadu, celebrations by party workers and fans erupted across the state.
Amid chants of 'TVK' and 'Vijay,' party workers gathered outside the party headquarters at Panaiyur near here and distributed sweets and hailed the party founder as "Muthalamaichar (Chief Minister) Vijay, who continues to be popular as "Thalapathy (Commander, his film title)."
Meanwhile, visuals of Vijay's father Chandrashekar and some family members expressing joy and happiness appeared in some television channels. Vijay's party is leading in at least 108 seats out of the total 234 segments.
