Setback for Karnataka Congress as senior leader CH Vijayashankar hops back to BJP

News Network
November 6, 2019

Bengaluru, Nov 6: In a setback to the opposition Congress in Karnataka ahead of 15 bye-polls in Karnataka, its senior leader and former lawmaker C.H. Vijayashankar from Mysuru returned to the ruling BJP in Bengaluru, a party official said on Tuesday.

"It was a home-coming for Vijayashankar who returned to the BJP two years after he quit in 2017 and joined the Congress in 2018 before the assembly elections," a party official told news agency.

Vijayashankar contested from the Mysuru Lok Sabha constituency in the 2019 general elections on a Congress ticket and lost to BJP's Pratap Simha.

Party's state unit president Naleen Kumar Kateel and state chief minister B.S. Yediyurappa were among the leaders and cadres who welcomed Vijayashankar back into the party fold.

"I have submitted my resignation from the Congress last week to its party high command and decided to rejoin the BJP for strengthening the party and its government in the state," Vijayashankar said on the occasion.

Vijayashankar's return to the saffron party comes ahead of the bye-elections in the southern state on December 5, including two in the old Mysuru region from where two former JD(S) rebel legislators A.H. Vishwanath and K.C. Narayana Gowda resigned from Hunsuru and K.R. Pet assembly segments, resulting in their disqualification and expulsion from the regional party in July.

"I was involved in party activities and held important positions when I was in the BJP until two years ago. In the Congress, however, no position or responsibilities were given to make best use of my services and political experiences. Hence, I have quit the party and came back to the BJP," Vijayashankar told reporters in Bengaluru.

Vijayashankar was BJP's district president and state unit's vice-president and represented twice the Hunsur assembly seat and the Lok Sabha twice from Mysuru in the past.

As the opposition leader in the assembly and former state chief minister Siddaramaiah, Vijayashankar is a popular Kurba leader in the state's southern region from the shepherd community.

Comments

kumar
 - 
Thursday, 7 Nov 2019

Dear Vijayshanker, please let us know how much you received from bjp to jump back.   This is really a good business to make money.   YOu have awarded the voters for selecting you.   Keep it up.   We need politicians like you.   

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coastaldigest.com news network
August 2,2020

Mangaluru, Aug 2: Former Minister and Mangaluru City MLA U T Khader has gone into self-quarantine after former MLC Ivan D’Souza tested positive for coronavirus. 

Mr D’Souza had met Mr Khader and many other Congress leaders a day before receiving his throat swab test results. 

Mr Khader announced on twitter: “Have gone into self-quarantine with immediate effect after receiving the news about #Covid_19 positive test of Former MLC Ivan D’Souza & his wife Dr Kavitha. Being COVID Incharge DK District taskforce committee, I am one among Ivan's primary contact.”

“I am going to discharge my duties from home for the next few days. You can reach out over phone at any point of time. I appeal to all my colleagues and friends who may have come in contact with us in the last few days to get tested for #Covid_19” he tweeted.

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News Network
February 10,2020

Bengaluru, Feb 10: Former Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy's son Nikhil Kumaraswamy today got engaged to Revathi, the grand-niece of Congress leader and realtor M Krishnappa.

On February 6, Mr Nikhil shared a picture with Ms Revathi on his official Facebook account.

Mr Nikhil's grandfather and former prime minister of India HD Deve Gowda attended the event along with several other politicians at the Taj West End.

BJP leaders including Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa former chief minister Jagadish Shetter were also present.

Mr Nikhil, 30, is a Kannada film actor who made his debut in the bilingual movie Jaguar in 2016. The actor will soon start shooting for his new movie Production No-1.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, he lost to Sumalatha Ambareesh, widow of former Karnataka actor Ambareesh, in the Mandya constituency in Karnataka.

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News Network
June 22,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 22: Senior Congress leader BK Hariprasad and BJP’s MTB Nagaraj, one of the defectors who helped the saffron party come to power in Karnataka, were unanimously elected to the Legislative Council along with five others on Monday. 

All seven were declared as “duly elected” by Legislative Assembly Secretary MK Vishalakshi, the returning officer for the biennial election to the Legislative Council. 

Hariprasad and Naseer Ahmed of the Congress, Nagaraj, R Shankar, Prathap Simha Nayak and Sunil Vallyapur of the BJP and Govinda Raju of the JD(S) are now MLCs. 

While Ahmed was an incumbent who will get another term, the six others will replace Jayamma, MC Venugopal, NS Bore Raju, HM Revanna and TA Sharavana and DU Mallikarjuna whose term ends June 30. 

While an election was scheduled June 29, it was not necessary as only seven candidates were in the fray for the seven seats on Monday, which was the last date for withdrawal of nominations. The nominations of A Yadavanahalli PC Krishnegowda and Mandikkal Nagaraja were rejected. 

With their rejection as MLCs, Nagaraj and Shankar - who jumped ship to the BJP last year - will now look to become ministers in Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa’s Cabinet. Both Nagaraj and Shankar were ministers when they resigned and defected from the Congress-JD(S) coalition. While Nagaraj lost the December 2019 bypolls, Shankar did not contest. 

Nagaraj, Shankar and Vallyapure were Yediyurappa’s picks for the Council, whereas Nayak is said to have been backed by BJP state president Nalin Kumar Kateel. 

There were many aspirants in the Congress for the Council berths, but Hariprasad and Ahmed were picked, given their experience. Hariprasad is widely believed to counter Siddaramaiah, who leads the party in the Assembly. 

Raju of the JD(S) runs a poultry business in Kolar and the choice of a fresh face is seen as the party leadership steering clear of any trouble as there were many asking for the ticket. 

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