Former Deputy Mayor L. Srinivas and 10 former councillors of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, and belonging to the BJP, joined the Congress in the presence of KPCC president and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Friday.
Former BBMP members are reportedly not happy with former Deputy Chief Minister and BJP leader R. Ashok’s leadership. These local leaders would provide additional support to the Congress in the coming elections to the BBMP and next year’s general elections.
Along with Mr Srinivas, Govind Raj, Anjinappa, Shobha Anjinappa, H. Narayan, H. Suresh, Venkataswamy Naidu, Supriya Shekhar, Balakrishna, Suguna Balakrishna, U. Krishnamurthy, Narasimha Naik, and Lakshmi Suresh, all former BBMP councillors, have joined the Congress.
Though BJP leaders held talks with these former councillors, sources said the talks failed. They accused Mr. Ashok of sidelining them. Most of these leaders hail from the Padmanabhanagar constituency.
Transport Minister R. Ramalinga Reddy maintained that the local leaders have been frustrated with the BJP leadership and more are expected to join the Congress. Kabbadi player Prasad Babu and few other former members of rural local bodies joined the Congress.
