BENGALURU: A foe turns friend for Congress leader and president of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) D.K. Shivakumar in Kanakapura ahead of the Assembly polls after Janata Dal Secular (JDS) leader Vishwanath who fought two elections against Shivakumar dumps JDS to join Congress party.
Vishwanath now supports D.K. Shivakumar in the forthcoming Assembly election in Kanakapura Assembly seat in Ramnagar district. Vishwanath and Shivakumar fought two elections in 2004 and 2008 Assembly elections and Vishwanath lost to Shivakumar on both the occasions.
In Sathanoor Assembly seat is now Kanakapura Assembly seat in Ramnagar district after delimitation of Assembly seats exercise in the State. In 2004 election, as a JDS nominee Vishwanath polled 37, 675 votes while winning Congress nominee D.K. Shivakumar secured 51, 602 votes. In the 2008 election, the fight was between JDS nominee Vishwanath and D.K. Shivakumar. Vishwanath polled 60917 votes while D.K. Shivakumar secured 68096 votes.
Miffed over ill-treatment to him in JDS, Vishwanath joined Congress party in presence of his one-time political opponent D.K. Shivakumar who is now president of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) in Bengaluru on Monday.
Vishwanath told Deccan Chronicle on Tuesday that he was fed-up with the attitude of JDS leader and former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and alleged that Kumaraswamy did not keep his word to make him an MLC. “My services in JDS went unrecognized. I was not even made a Board chairman when Kumaraswamy was in power,” he lamented.
“I was repeatedly assured prominent positions but nothing substantial happened to me in JDS,” alleged Vishwanath and stated that “Loyal party workers like me are used and later dumped by Kumaraswamy.”
Admitting that he got an offer to join Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Vishwanath said that party leaders invited me but there was nothing convincing from their side about my role in the party. “They wanted me to join BJP first and later on discuss other issues.”
Asked what made him join Congress, Vishwanath said, “I joined Congress without any aspirations.” After inducting Vishwanath into the Congress party, D.K. Shivakumar said Vishwanath was an active JDS worker in Kanakapura and now joined Congress believing in its ideologies.
BENGALURU: A foe turns friend for Congress leader and president of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) D.K. Shivakumar in Kanakapura ahead of the Assembly polls after Janata Dal Secular (JDS) leader Vishwanath who fought two elections against Shivakumar dumps JDS to join Congress party.
Vishwanath now supports D.K. Shivakumar in the forthcoming Assembly election in Kanakapura Assembly seat in Ramnagar district. Vishwanath and Shivakumar fought two elections in 2004 and 2008 Assembly elections and Vishwanath lost to Shivakumar on both the occasions.
In Sathanoor Assembly seat is now Kanakapura Assembly seat in Ramnagar district after delimitation of Assembly seats exercise in the State. In 2004 election, as a JDS nominee Vishwanath polled 37, 675 votes while winning Congress nominee D.K. Shivakumar secured 51, 602 votes. In the 2008 election, the fight was between JDS nominee Vishwanath and D.K. Shivakumar. Vishwanath polled 60917 votes while D.K. Shivakumar secured 68096 votes.
Miffed over ill-treatment to him in JDS, Vishwanath joined Congress party in presence of his one-time political opponent D.K. Shivakumar who is now president of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) in Bengaluru on Monday.
Vishwanath told Deccan Chronicle on Tuesday that he was fed-up with the attitude of JDS leader and former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and alleged that Kumaraswamy did not keep his word to make him an MLC. “My services in JDS went unrecognized. I was not even made a Board chairman when Kumaraswamy was in power,” he lamented.
“I was repeatedly assured prominent positions but nothing substantial happened to me in JDS,” alleged Vishwanath and stated that “Loyal party workers like me are used and later dumped by Kumaraswamy.”
Admitting that he got an offer to join Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Vishwanath said that party leaders invited me but there was nothing convincing from their side about my role in the party. “They wanted me to join BJP first and later on discuss other issues.”
Asked what made him join Congress, Vishwanath said, “I joined Congress without any aspirations.” After inducting Vishwanath into the Congress party, D.K. Shivakumar said Vishwanath was an active JDS worker in Kanakapura and now joined Congress believing in its ideologies.
