Raju Kage, a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP,) on the 14th of November, joined the Indian National Congress (INC.)
Raju Kage, a four time Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) of Kagwad, joined the INC. The reason is said to be the tickets given to 15 disqualified MLAs of the INC and the Janata Dal (Secular) [JD(S.)]
The BJP awarded the disqualified MLAs by giving them BJP tickets to contest the upcoming Assembly by elections.
Raju Kage said, “I joined Congress (INC) today (the 14th of November.) There is no condition for my joining. I worked hard for the BJP, won four times but got no cabinet berth. That’s why I left.”
Kage joined the INC in Bengaluru in the presence of senior INC leaders. The INC decided to field Raju Kage from Athani as he is famous in the Constituency.
Meanwhile, 16 disqualified MLAs of the JD(S) and the INC formally joined the BJP on the same day, the 14th of November.
B.S. Yediyurappa, the Chief Minister of Karnataka, expressed his happiness and welcomed the MLAs. He said, “Whatever promise we have given, we are going to fulfil. All our BJP workers will work day and night. The 15 MLAs who are going to contest the bypolls are going to win 100%.”
However, the disqualified MLAs were not welcomed by everyone. Existing BJP members like Raju Kage were disappointed with the BJP for giving a ticket to the disqualified MLAs and not to them.
BJP Member of Parliament (MP) Bache Gowda’s son Sharath, who was not happy with the decision, even filed his nomination from the Hoskote constituency as an independent candidate.
Karnataka will hold the Assembly by elections for 17 seats on the 5th of December and the results would be announced on the 9th of December.
Stay tuned for further updates.
