Four Independent MLAs tilt towards Congress

 Four Independent MLAs, once ministers in the BJP government, have made it apparent that they intend to join the Congress.

This was evident with the four MLAs paying a visit to former external affairs minister and senior Congress leader S M Krishna at his residence here on Thursday.

P M Narendraswamy, D Sudhakar, Venkataramanappa and Shivaraj Tangadagi met Krishna, sparking off speculations about their future political plans.

Narendraswamy told Deccan Herald that the MLAs had tried to send feelers to the Congress leaders that they were open to join the party, provided the party assures them of tickets to contest the ensuing Assembly elections.

Consensus

The MLA from Malavalli said that the Independents had arrived at a consensus that they would not join BJP, B Sreeramulu’s BSR party, or former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa’s KJP, especially because of the political history of the BJP government.

He said that the MLAs were also not keen on joining the JD(S). The Congress had angered Narendraswamy, Sudhakar and Venkataramanappa by not giving them tickets in the 2008 Assembly elections. “One cannot remain angry with one’s own parents for long. Krishna is a senior leader and he has nurtured all three of us.”

“While Sudhakar and Venkataramanappa have remained MLAs during Krishna’s tenure as the chief minister, the Congress leader was instrumental in me getting the ticket to contest elections in 1999 and 2004. We are ever grateful to him,” he said. Another independent Goolihati Shekar is also keen on contesting the elections on a Congress ticket, sources said.

Surveys

Another reason for the Independents to consider Congress is the pre-poll internal surveys carried out by the party, apparently indicating Congress’s performance in the
upcoming  assembly elections.