Sixteen disqualified Karnataka MLAs of the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday, a day after the Supreme Court allowed them to contest the Dec. 5 assembly bypolls in the state.
Roshan Baig, a disqualified Congress MLA from Shivajinagar, was not inducted into the saffron party.
Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, Karnataka BJP President Nalin Kumar Kateel and National General Secretary In-Charge of Karnataka, P Muralidhar Rao, were among those who welcomed them into the party fold.
The BJP, which aims to secure a majority in Karnataka Assembly, is likely to field most of the disqualified MLAs as its candidates in 15 constituencies where bypolls will be held.
According to BJP sources, party leadership has cited "reservations" for not inducting Baig, who is facing inquiry in the IMA ponzi scam. The seven-time legislator had on Wednesday claimed he will be joining the BJP along with the other MLAs.
The disqualified Congress MLAs who joined BJP are:
- Pratap Gowda Patil (Maski)
- BC Patil (Hirekerur)
- Shivram Hebbar (Yellapur)
- ST Somashekar (Yeshwanthpur)
- Byrati Basavaraj (KR Puram)
- Anand Singh (Vijayanagara)
- N Munirathna (RR Nagar)
- K Sudhakar (Chikkaballapura)
- MTB Nagaraj (Hoskote)
- Shrimant Patil (Kagwad)
- Ramesh Jarkiholi (Gokak)
- Mahesh Kumatalli (Athani)
- R Shankar (Ranibennur)
The JD (S) members who joined the party are:
- K Gopalaiah (Mahalakshmi Layout)
- AH Vishwanath (Hunsur)
- KC Narayana Gowda (KR Pet)
WATCH | Sixteen disqualified Karnataka MLAs join BJP
Bypolls to 15 of 17 seats represented by disqualified Karnataka MLAs, whose resignations and absence from the trust vote had led to the collapse of HD Kumaraswamy-led coalition government in July, will be held on Dec. 5.
BJP will need to win at least six out of those 15 seats to remain in power. Of the 15 constituencies, 12 were represented by Congress and three by JD (S).
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