It's party time for party-hoppers

It’s election time, and it holds out an huge opportunity to turncoats to hop from one party to another. Political parties too, make use of party-hoppers to show-off their popularity and for other considerations.

Prominent among the turncoats to switch their loyalty again is C P Yogeeshwara, currently Samajwadi Party MLA from Channapatna. On Tuesday, he will be re-joining the Congress.

He has become MLA for five times – twice from Congress party, once from BJP, once as an Independent candidate and once from the SP.

A large group of leaders led by former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa and Shobha Karandlaje switched their loyalties back to the parent party BJP recently. Yeddyurappa had quit the BJP and launched his own outfit KJP before 2013 Assembly elections.

He had hit out at the BJP at that time and pledged not to return to it. Interestingly, a number of party-hoppers (those who were not in the BJP) had joined hands with him in the KJP. But the entire KJP was merged with the BJP recently.

One of the Yeddyurappa followers, Gurupadappa Nagamarapalli, who was in the Congress before, now wants to contest from Bidar parliamentary constituency as the BJP candidate.

And BJP is seriously considering his demand. Nagamarapalli was elected as KJP MLA from Bidar Assembly constituency. He joined the BJP along with Yeddyurappa.
Ditto is the case with B Sriramulu. Once a close associate of jailed former minister Janardhan Reddy, Sriramulu quit the BJP and started his own BSR Congress. He recently switched his loyalty to the BJP and he is most likely to contest as the BJP candidate from Bellary parliamentary constituency.

Another leader Mahima Patel, son of former chief minister J H Patel, is said to be planning to return to the JD(S). He is said to be miffed with the Congress for not giving him the ticket to contest from Davanagere parliamentary constituency.

He started his political career in the JD(S). Later in 2007, he quit the party and had launched his own political outfit called Suvarna Yuga. But his party failed to make any impact. Hence, he joined the Congress.

This apart, the JD(S) appears to have started poaching for leaders from other parties ahead of the elections.

The party is said to be looking for disgruntled leaders who are denied ticket in their parties. Congress leaders C K Jaffer Sharief and K C Ramamurthy and sitting BJP MP from Koppal Shivaram Gouda Patil are said to be on the ‘hit list.’