In an interesting turn of events, former minister Dr A B Malakareddy, who had returned to the Congress recently after a brief stint with BJP, is contesting the May 10 polls from Yadgir on JD(S) ticket. Malakareddy had only switched to the JD(S) two days back after he failed to secure a Congress ticket for his daughter Dr Anuraga Malakareddy from Yadgir.
JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda has allotted B-form to him at his residence in Bengaluru.
Dr Malakareddy had lost against BJP by a margin of around 14,000 votes in the 2018 assembly elections. Upset with AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, 87-year-old Malakareddy had joined BJP in 2019 along with Baburao Chinchansur and Malikayya Guttedar.
Interestingly, Dr Anuraga had filed an application for Congress ticket in this election. But, the Congress has denied ticket to her and fielded Channareddy Patil Tunnur from Yadgir.
As many as 17 leaders have quit the Congress party recently and they are expected to join hands with Dr Malakareddy. “My supporters have been exerting pressure on me since last one year to contest the Assembly election. KPCC president D K Shivakumar had told my daughter to file an application for the party ticket. But, he has betrayed us by denying the ticket. This has prompted me to join JD(S),” Malakareddy said.
Published 15 April 2023, 16:34 IST