BJP leaders in KGF to support Congress

Senior members of the BJP have declared that they are supporting Roopakala, the Congress candidate in the constituency.

They were speaking at a press meet chaired by MP and former Union minister K H Muniyappa in town on Tuesday.

Nirmala, the Zilla Panchayat member from Bethamangala; Ambarish, senior BJP leader and Nirmala’s husband; Amaranarayana Reddy, the president of the Jakkarasakuppa Gram Panchayat; and Girijamma, the vice president of the Taluk Panchayat, have expressed support to Roopakala.

Sampangi influence

Ashwini Sampangi, the daughter of Y Sampangi, is the BJP candidate from Kolar Gold Fields during the current elections, while the sitting legislator is Y Ramakka, Sampangi’s mother.

Ambarish, who spoke at the press meet organised at Muniyappa’s residence, said, “The Kolar Gold Fields constituency has experienced too much trouble from former legislator Y Sampangi and his family. The workers who strived for the development of the party in the region have been completely sidelined by Sampangi and his family. Sampangi is too busy rearing his family members to pay attention to the faithful activists.”

The leader said that support would be extended to a candidate contesting against Sampangi in the constituency. “We have, therefore, decided to support Roopakala and will be campaigning for her, instead of Ashwini,” he added.

Money from beneficiaries

Speaking about the problems still faced by the people, Ambarish said, “The beneficiaries of the borewell project were made to pay Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000 to get permission to sink borewells.”

Gram Panchayat members Venkatesh, Srinivas, Muniyappa, Sanaullah, Akram, Ganesh, Nagesh, Anand, Sriram, and Narayanamurthy, and Hulkur Panchayat member Babu were present at the press meet.

Muniyappa, who later visited Amaranarayana Reddy, BJP leader from Jakkarasakuppa, invited him to join the Congress. Reddy rejected the offer, but assured support to the Congress candidate.

Gram Panchayat member Muddukrishna, Sanganahalli Krishnappa, Girijamma, and BJP leader Naveen Ram were present on the occasion.