Former Nagamangala MLAs to join JD(S) tomorrow

Former Nagamangala MLAs K Suresh Gowda and L R Shivaramegowda will be inducted into the JD(S) party fold on April 10, Mandya MP C S Puttaraju said.

Suresh Gowda was elected MLA on a Congress ticket in the 2008 Assembly election while Shivaramegowda unsuccessfully contested from Mandya Lok Sabha constituency on a BJP ticket in 2009. Before joining BJP, Shivaramegowda was with the Congress and he was elected MLA from Nagamangala Assembly constituency.

Shivaramegowda told DH that, “It is left to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to issue tickets to anybody from the Congress, we are not bothered. We are certain about joining JD(S) on Monday. The decision on issuance of ticket in the 2018 Assembly election is yet to be taken. If one gets a ticket to the Assembly, the other would be sent to the Legislative Council.”

The move of the JD(S) high command is also seen as a step towards avenging sitting MLA N Chaluvarayaswamy, who along with eight other JD(S) MLAs, had cross-voted for a Congress candidate in the Rajya Sabha polls.

Meanwhile, another rebel JD(S) MLA Ramesh Babu Bandisiddegowda is reported to have made an attempt to meet party state president and former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy under the pretext of extending an invitation for his nephew’s wedding.

The meeting, however, did not materialise as Kumaraswamy was unwell and was recuperating. The past couple of decades have seen JD(S) forming a stronghold in Mandya district as Congress lost out due to in-fighting while BJP is yet to gain ground. BJP, however, is expected to gain in strength with the induction of former chief minister S M Krishna, who is a native of the district.