JD(S) leaders irked over GTD, Sandesh Nagaraj’s absence in MCC election

After a rift among the Congress leaders, following the Mayor election in Mysuru, JD(S) leaders are opposing their own party MLA and MLC for not participating in the election, held on February 24.

Though JD(S) corporator Rukmini Madegowda is elected as Mayor with the support of Congress corporators, JD(S) leaders have expressed displeasure against party MLA G T Devegowda and MLC Sandesh Nagaraj for their non-participation in the election.

In a press conference here, on Saturday, JD(S) city president K T Cheluvegowda and Zilla Panchayat members Beerihundi Basavanna and Madegowda and JD(S) leader Belakavadi Shivamurthy demanded the party leaders to expel Devegowda and Nagaraj for their anti-party activities.

The leaders also threatened of resigning from primary membership, if no action is taken against Devegowda and Nagaraj. "MLA Devegowda was involved in anti-party activities and he had joined hands with the BJP. He should resign as an MLA. Let Devegowda, who was elected on JD(S) ticket from Chamundeshwari segment, face an election to show his strength," Cheluvegowda challenged.

It has to be noted that Devegowda, who defeated former chief minister Siddaramaiah with a huge margin of 35,000 votes in the 2018 Assembly election, has maintained a distance from JD(S) and its leaders since the JD(S)-Congress government was formed in 2018. He maintained a distance as he was not allocated a preferred portfolio, in chief minister H D Kumaraswamy’s Cabinet.

Sandesh Nagaraj's younger brother Sathish (Swamy) was a BJP candidate in the 2018 Assembly poll from Narasimharaja constituency in Mysuru.