JOIN USSamajwadi Party MLA from Channapatna, C P Yogeeshwara, rejoined the Congress on Tuesday, a move that may strengthen the ruling party in the Bangalore Rural parliamentary constituency.
The All India Congress Committee (AICC) issued a statement to this effect in Delhi on Tuesday.
Yogeeshwara, who met the AICC general secretary in charge of Karnataka, Digvijay Singh, in Delhi, is a five-time MLA from Channapatna. Despite changing many parties in his political career, he wields considerable clout in the town famous for its wooden toys and lacquerware.
Yogeeshwara’s decision will be a setback to the JD(S) which is seen as the main challenger to the Congress in Bangalore Rural seat ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. “I am rejoining the Congress without any conditions,” he told Deccan Herald. “I have supported the Congress throughout my career. I will work to strengthen the party in the coming days.”
Energy Minister D K Shivakumar, whose brother D K Suresh is the Congress candidate from Bangalore Rural, was instrumental in Yogeeshwara’s return. The JD(S) was also wooing him and was ready to make him its candidate for Bangalore Rural. Yogeeshwara had defeated Anitha Kumaraswamy, wife of JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy, in the 2013 Assembly elections from Channapatna.