Miffed Cong MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi inching closer to BJP

Congress’ rebel legislator Ramesh Jarkiholi may have inched closer to the BJP as it has now emerged that he joined other saffron party leaders in felicitating newly-elected Gulbarga MP Umesh Jadhav, who defeated Congress veteran Mallikarjun Kharge.

Pictures of him with BJP leader C P Yogeshwara and others celebrating Jadhav’s victory became public Saturday. This fuelled speculation that Ramesh was well on track with his “plan” to defect. He has claimed that he will resign from the Congress along with other MLAs.

Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Dinesh Gundu Rao, however, maintained that Ramesh was still with the party. “He hasn’t come out and said anything. We’ll see what his movements are going to be. We’ll act based on how things go,” Rao said.

Admitting that there was disgruntlement among legislators, Rao said necessary measures would be taken to ensure that the Congress-JD(S) coalition government was stable. “Any efforts of the BJP to destabilise the government, like those they tried in the past, will be unsuccessful,” he said.

BJP eyeing Lingayat MLAs?

Meanwhile, it is learnt that the BJP is looking to cosy up with Congress legislators who belong to the Lingayat community, especially in north Karnataka. The BJP swept the Lingayat-dominated north Karnataka region in the Lok Sabha polls, on the back of which the saffron party may look to lure Lingayat MLAs of the Congress.

‘Jarkiholi team at work’

Meanwhile, BJP leader Jagadish Shettar has said that several MLAs from the Congress would join the party, and disgruntled Gokak MLA Ramesh Jarakiholi and his team have started working in that direction, reports DHNS from Hubballi.

He also predicted that some JD(S) MLAs who are fed up with H D Deve Gowda family politics may also come to the BJP.

Shettar told media persons on Saturday that Avinash Jadhav’s victory in Chincholi Assembly constituency by-election may prompt some Congress and JD(S) MLAs to leave their party.

The coalition government may fall at any moment, he added.