Maalakraddy joins BJP; blames Kharge for his exit

Congress leader and former minister A B Maalakaraddy blamed the "disastrous" leadership with Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge for his decision to join BJP.

Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, Maalakaraddy accused Kharge of being “infatuated with promotion of family members”, which resulted in weakening of the Congress and would prove costly in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections also. Maalakaraddy and several other Congress workers joined BJP in the presence of party state president B S Yeddyurappa on Friday.

“Self-interest has grown out of proportion in Kharge. Though I had won for the sixth time from Yadgir constituency in 2013 polls, Kharge decided to make his son Priyank Kharge a minister. Moreover, Priyank was also appointed as district in-charge minister for Yadgir. But he did nothing for the district,” he said.

Yeddyurappa said that that BJP’s prospects in Gulbarga, a Congress bastion, looked encouraging. "The voters are backing BJP candidate Umesh Jadhav in large numbers. We will definitely win the seat by a large margin," he added.