Bengaluru, Jan 24 (IANS): In a setback to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge in his home turf Kalaburagi, his aide R. Rudraiah on Wednesday quit Congress and joined the BJP at the party headquarters Jagannatha Bhavan here.

Rudraiah, a retired Karnataka Administrative Service (KAS), was identified with close circles of Kharge.

He joined BJP in the presence of Leader of Opposition R. Ashoka, MP S. Muniswamy, MLA Shivaraj Patil and MLC Chalawadi Narayanaswamy.

Rudraiah hails from the Dalit community and rendered services as a senior officer in the state irrigation department. He was a ticket aspirant from Lingsugur constituency in the last Assembly elections from the Congress party.

After failing to get the ticket, Rudraiah had contested from the Kalyana Rajya Pragathi Paksha and secured 13,764 votes. Sources close to him stated that Rudraiah was upset that Mallikarjun Kharge had played a role in refusing a ticket to him.

Though rumours were circulated about Rudraiah quitting the Congress party recently, he did not confirm his decision to join BJP. The development is expected to strengthen BJP in Kalaburagi region and to face the challenge by Kharge family which dominates the politics in the district.