Karnataka   

Congress suffers setback as ex-MLA joins BJP

SANDUR (BELLARY District): The Congress suffered another major setback when its former district unit president and the former Kudligi MLA Siraj Sheikh joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) along with his followers in Sandur on Tuesday.

“For the past 30 years, I have served the party in various capacities and strived hard to strengthen it. But the party leadership is giving ticket to new entrants, ignoring loyal workers. What hurts me more is that the party has given ticket to those who spoke lightly of party president Sonia Gandhi when she contested the Lok Sahba elections from Bellary in 1999. The party’s stance has caused lot of displeasure among party workers. I have joined BJP after holding consultations with my supporters, he told presspersons here on Tuesday.

Newcomers and people with money had hijacked the party and were calling the shots in order to get ticket to candidates of their choice, Mr. Sheikh said.

“The atmosphere in the party had become suffocative forcing loyalists to quit,” he said.

Mr. Sheikh and his supporters were welcomed into the party fold by B. Sriramulu, BJP leader and the former Minister; G. Janardhan Reddy, MLC, and other party leaders.

Mr. Sheikh was one of the few leaders known for organising the Congress party and striving hard for the victory of the party candidates in the zilla and taluk panchayat elections.

Mr. Sheikh, who was groomed under M.Y. Ghorpade, climbed up from the grassroots level. He was president of the Sandur Taluk Panchayat and became member of the zilla panchayat. In 1999, he contested from the Kudligi Assembly Constituency and took up many projects. He is credited with construction of nearly 14,000 houses in a span of five years, besides trying to get funds for supply of drinking water and rejuvenating defunct lift irrigation schemes.

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