Mangaluru Cong leader quits party in morning to join BJP, returns by evening

Mangaluru: In a curious case of switching parties in the election period, a Congress local leader in Mangaluru resigned from his party and joined BJP in the morning, only to rejoin his parent party in the evening.

Panemangaluru block Congress secretary Sundara Devinagara is the leader who played a 'swing' exercise on Saturday for reasons best known to him.

Sundara Devinagara was welcomed to the BJP at a function in the morning by U Rajesh Naik, who is to contest from Bantwal constituency against state Forests minister B Ramanath Rai.

Naik handed over the BJP flag to Sundara during the function in Mangaluru.

In a sudden twist to the story, Sundara rejoined Congress at another programme held at Mani a few hours later, after apparently being cajoled by party leaders.

He was once again 'welcomed' back to the party at the function attended by leaders, including Prakash Shetty Thumbe, party sources said.