Bengaluru, Apr 17 (IANS): Disappointed over not getting a ticket for the Lok Sabha polls, two-time MP Sanganna Karadi on Wednesday joined the Congress in the presence of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM D. K. Shivakumar.
Along with Karadi, three-time MLA from Belagavi Rural Shivaputra Malagi and other prominent leaders joined the Congress.
After welcoming him to the party, Shivakumar said, "Amid the din of BJP about victory, Sanganna Karadi has joined our party for our principles. He has a huge base of supporters in two districts of north Karnataka," Shivakumar said.
Warmly welcoming prominent Lingayat community leader and two-term Koppal BJP MP Karadi Sanganna and others into the Congress party, Shivakumar said the two-term BJP MP, Karadi Sanganna, who has resigned from BJP and joined the party, is a grassroots leader. “Karadi Sanganna is a mass leader, who is popular among the masses. He came up the hard way and rose to become Primary Land Development (PLD) Bank President and became MLA from JDU in 1999. He rose to become MP twice on BJP ticket and has now joined Congress."
Puttaswamy from Arkalgud in Hassan district, Krishnamurthy of Rajajinagar and three-term former MLA Shivaputra Malagi, journalist Swathi Chandrashekar and others also joined the Congress party in the presence of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
"I and CM Siddaramaiah are travelling across the state. People are saying that the Congress party has acted as per its promises and delivered on guarantees. There is a big wave of guarantees in the state," he said.
The BJP has fielded Basavaraj S Kyavater as its candidate following internal opposition for Sanganna. Former CM B. S. Yediyurappa had met him and initially managed to pacify him. However, the Congress "managed to pull him to its side" ahead of the Lok Sabha election.
In the 2019 general elections, Congress candidate K. Rajashekar Hitnal had lost against then BJP candidate Sanganna by 38,397 votes. Given the thin margin of victory and with Sanganna now joining the party, the Congress is hopeful of getting the Koppal Lok Sabha seat.