Siddaramaiah sees BSY hand in ticket denial to sitting MPs in state

Karadi Sanganna, who had been sulking ever since he was denied a ticket to seek third-time from Koppal parliamentary segment, on Wednesday joined Congress here in the presence of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar.

The two-time BJP MP and four-time MLA from Koppal had openly expressed his displeasure against the party leaders after they snubbed him and issued a ticket to newbie Dr Basavaraj Kyavator.

On Tuesday, Karadi quit as primary member of BJP and MP. He sent his resignation to LS Speaker Om Birla by mail.

Welcoming Karadi to the Congress, Siddaramaiah launched a scathing attack on BJP parliamentary board member B S Yediyurappa, saying the BJP veteran was behind denial of tickets to a few sitting MPs, who he thought, were stumbling blocks to his son Vijayendra’s growth. 

“Yediyurappa’s aim is to make his son Vijayendra chief minister. There are two groups in BJP, one is Yediyurappa’s and another is B L Santosh’s. Those who didn’t accept his son were denied tickets,” said Siddaramaiah.

Expressing confidence of winning 20-plus seats in the state, Siddaramaiah said the NDA will not come to power. “People want a change. We are seeing an undercurrent in favour of the I.N.D.I.A bloc during our tours,” he said.

Criticising BJP for playing emotional and religious cards, Siddaramaiah said, it will not work this time. “People have seen enough of such gimmicks,” he added.

Journalist Swati Chandrashekar, former bureaucrat Puttaswamy, former legislator Shivaputra Malagi and others joined the Congress.