Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (MS)

Bengaluru, Mar 2: Tippeswamy, former MLA of Molakalmuru constituency, joined the Congress party along with his supporters on Friday, March 1 in the presence of Dinesh Gundu Rao, president of KPCC.

Tippeswamy was welcomed into the party by N Chandrappa, MP of Chitradurga and H Anjaneya, former minister. Tippeswamy had contested the 2018 assembly elections as an Independent as he was not offered ticket by the BJP. However, he lost in the election against Sriramulu.

Speaking on the occasion, Tippeswamy said, "BJP vice-president Sriramulu had sworn that he will not contest from Molakalmuru constituency during the assembly elections. However, he broke his promise and contested the elections. Many leaders of BJP in the districts of Chitradurga and Ballari are ready to join Congress. Defeating the BJP candidates in the constituencies of Ballari and Chitradurga in the upcoming Lok Sabha election is our aim."

As Tippeswamy was speaking in the meeting, he started to attack the BJP and said that the Pulwama attack is the failure of central government intelligence. As he finished his sentence, Dinesh Gundu Rao, who was seated by the side of Tippeswamy made a sign and asked him not to speak on the Pulwama issue. Tippeswamy changed the course of his speech as per the advice of Dinesh Gundu Rao.