JOIN USThe Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) has reportedly sought the consent of the party high command to allow 15 persons, including three BJP MLAs, to be inducted into the Congress.
Sources in the party said the list of the names was despatched to Delhi on Wednesday. The list includes the names of five Independent legislators, three BJP MLAs and one JD(S) MLA, two former legislators and a leader from Chikmagalur.
The names of the BJP MLAs, which have been cleared by the KPCC, have been kept under wraps as disclosing the names may create unrest among the ticket aspirants in the Congress. A good number of MLAs from the BJP as well as the JD(S) are knocking on the doors of the Congress, seeking tickets to contest the next Assembly elections, it is said.
The Congress may allow Puttaswamy, a retired IAS officer, to join the party on November 19. A Manju, Congress MLA from Arakalgud had resisted Puttaswamy’s entry as he was not consulted in this regard. Former BJP MLA Haladi Srinivas may also join the Congress, it is said.
Meanwhile, at a programme organised to celebrate Jawaharlal Nehru’s birth anniversary at the party office, KPCC president G Parameshwara appealed to the partymen not to consider him (Parameshwara) their ‘enemy.’ They should instead understand that it is the BJP and JD(S) that are their enemy, he said.
Parameshwara said about 171 days were left for the Assembly elections and it was high time that the party workers forgot their differences and united for the party’s sake. He said leaders should stop indulging in anti-party activities and issuing statements against the party. The leaders and workers should direct their energy to election work, he said.
“The enemy has already entered the battlefield. We should sink our differences and come together. You need to understand that I am not your enemy. It is the BJP and JD(S) which are your enemies. The leaders should use their energies in strategising against the enemy and not conspire against the party,” he said.
He said it was because of Nehru’s foresightedness and his political and economic acumen that India was in a relatively stable position today.