Former Congress MP Muddahanume Gowda joins BJP

Bengaluru: Fed-up with the attitude of Congress party, a former Congress Lok Sabha member Muddahanume Gowda on Thursday quit the party to join Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in presence of State unit president Nalin Kumar Kateel and Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai at the party office.

Muddahanume Gowda was a Congress MP representing Tumakuru Lok Sabha seat and a two-time MLA from Kunigal Assembly seat.

In 2019, Congress and JDS were running the State Government and as per the seat sharing arrangement, Tumakuru parliamentary seat went to JDS and sitting MP Muddahanume Gowda was left disappointed.

In 2019, JDS supremo and former Prime Minister H.D. Devegowda contested Tumakuru Lok Sabha seat with the support of Congress party and was defeated by BJP’s Basavaraju by a margin of about 12,000 votes.  

Discontent with the party’s decision to give away Tumakuru MP seat to JDS in 2019, Muddahanume Gowda, then a sitting MP representing Tumakuru seat, distanced himself from party activities before he took a decision to join BJP.

Explaining the reasons for him to quit Congress party, Muddahanume Gowda told Deccan Chronicle that “I being a sitting MP of Tumakuru, there was no justification given to me by Congress leaders to surrender the seat to JDS when JDS did not demand for the seat to contest 2019 parliamentary poll from Tumakuru.”

Continuing, Gowda expressed displeasure over repeated denial to accommodate him in Rajya Sabha after assurance from Congress leader and former All India Congress Committee (AICC) Rahul Gandhi.

“I was assured a Rajya Sabha seat but it went to senior Congress leader Mallaikarjun Kharge and later another chance went to Jairam Ramesh. Even MLCs seats went to others,” he rued.

Now, in BJP, Muddahanume Gowda said his followers have been asking him to contest the Assembly election from Kunigal seat or Lok Sabha election from Tumakuru MP seat and Gowda said that a decision on his contest would be decided by BJP leaders.

Along with Muddahanume Gowda, another former MP and film actor Shashikumar also joined BJP. Shashikumar had represented Chitradurga Lok Sabha seat on Janata Dal United (JDU) ticket and was later in Congress party. Sources said that Shashikumar might be fielded from Challakere Assembly seat in Chitradurga seat in forthcoming election.