Setback for Karnataka BJP after MLA quits; expected to join Congress

Sirisi: The BJP MLA from Karnataka's Kudligi, N Y Gopalakrishna, resigned from the party on Friday. He is expected to join Congress, PTI reported.

Reports suggested that the resignation came after Gopalakrishna met Senior state Congress leaders DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah and held talks.

The legislator met Karnataka Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri at his office here and turned in his resignation.

Gopalakrishna was a Congress leader earlier and was elected from the Molakalmuru Assembly segment in the Chitradurga district four times (1997, 1999, 2004 and 2008).

He had left the party in 2018 after being denied a ticket. He joined BJP before the elections, and the party gave him a ticket from Kudligi in the Vijayanagara district instead of Molakalmuru.

In the last week of March Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka witnessed one BJP leader each quitting the party and joining Congress, giving a setback to the national. In Bhopal, former zila panchayat chairman Rao Yadvendra Singh Yadav joined Congress, while Karnataka legislative council, BJP legislator Baburao Chinchansur also did the same. Karnataka BJP had only witnessed another resignation two weeks before that after BJP legislator Puttanna left the party and joined Congress.

Further, JD(S) MLA SR Srinivas also joined Congress on Thursday. He resigned as MLA on March 27.

Congress chief in the state Shivakumar said that there is a "long list of people" wishing to join the party, and it will be revealed in stages in upcoming days.

Karnataka Congress has been witnessing a generous amount of quitting these days, and Assembly elections are scheduled on May 10.