Former Minister K.B. Shanappa, who quit the BJP a few days ago, put an end to all speculation about his future by joining the Congress in the presence of veteran Congress leader M. Mallikarjun Kharge at the Kalaburagi Rural Block Congress Committee workers’ meeting on Monday.
Addressing the gathering after joining the party, Mr. Shanappa expressed displeasure over having been sidelined in the saffron party. He also openly criticised the BJP leadership in the State and the Centre. Mr. Shanappa, who was associated with the BJP for 15 years, said he had severed ties with the party because of the “bad culture” that had entered it in recent years after the death of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
“Can I continue to be a part of a party that hosts people like Anantkumar Hegde, who wants to change the Constitution?” he asked.
Mr. Shanappa, a former communist leader, joined the BJP in 2004. He was Excise Minister in the J.H. Patel Cabinet.
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