Two ex-MPs, a former IAS officer join BJP as Karnataka gears up for assembly polls

Former Congress Lok Sabha member SP Muddahanume Gowda, former JD(U) Lok Sabha member, actor Shashikumar and former IAS officer BH Anil Kuman joined the ruling BJP on Thursday, hoping to take their political career forward.

Karnataka is headed to assembly polls in about seven months.

Gowda, a leader hailing from Tumakuru, had been upset with the Congress after the party backed HD Deve Gowda (JD-S) in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Since the JD(S)-Congress combine ruled the state then, the Congress had assigned the Tumakuru Lok Sabha seat to the former PM in the seat-sharing arrangement.


As a consolation, the party had reportedly promised him a nomination to the legislative council, but that did not happen. He was keen to contest in the upcoming assembly polls from Kunigal seat in Tumakuru district, but the party did not agree to the demand as its member Dr Ranganath is already a sitting MLA there. Moreover, Dr Ranganath is also related to DK Shivakumar, president of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC).

On Thursday, Gowda said he was joining the BJP inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's work, and the global stature India has acquired under his leadership.

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, who welcomed them into the party in the presence of state unit president Nalinkumar Kateel, said the party will treat them with respect. The party’s parliamentary board will take a decision on their role during elections, he said.

Actor turned politician Shashikumar was an MP from Chitradurga representing the JD(S) from 1999 to 2004. He had been keeping a low profile for long. Anil Kumar, a retired IAS officer, had served Bengaluru’s civic body BBMP as its commissioner recently.