Disqualified MLAs get BJP tickets

BENGALURU: BJP announced party tickets to 13 disqualified lawmakers on Thursday, keeping the Ranebennur seat on hold as it refused to allow former minister R Roshan Baig admission into the party. Party members said BJP could not accommodate Baig because his name figured in the alleged I-Monetary Advisory Ponzi scheme scam.

Sixteen disqualified MLAs joined BJP in the morning in presence of chief minister BS Yediyurappa, the party’s state unit president Nalin Kumar Kateel and national general secretary Muralidhar Rao.

They will now contest polls from their respective seats as the Supreme Court has allowed them to contest the December 5 byelections though it upheld their disqualification .


Until they get elected, they cannot hold any ministerial position. In a surprise move, BJP announced the ticket, in Shivajinagar, for M Sharavana, who quit Congress and joined BJP. Fifteen of the 17 seats that fell vacant following disqualification of Congress, JDS and an independent candidate will go to the polls next month.

The Election Commission has not notified elections to two constituencies — RR Nagar and Maski — owing to separate court cases. As for Ranebennur, which was represented by Independent R Shankar, BJP did not announce its ticket for him. The reason, according to some people, is that rural development minister KS Eshwarappa is lobbying to field his son while others said Shankar is in two minds about contesting.