Bengaluru: In a major setback for the ruling Congress, former Udupi-Chikkamagaluru MP K Jayaprakash Hegde and leader of the numerically significant Bunt community in coastal and Chikkamagaluru districts, joined the BJP in the presence of state unit president B S Yeddyurappa and other leaders, here on Wednesday.
Mr Hegde, a contemporary of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, was a member of the ministry headed by late Chief Minister J H Patel. Subsequently, he moved to the Congress, and was elected to Lok Sabha through a bypoll in 2012. His presence in the party coupled with many incidents of moral policing by right-wing activists helped turn the tide in favour of Congress to such an extent that the party won 10 out of 13 seats in undivided coastal districts during Assembly polls held in 2013. The BJP managed to win two seats while an independent, Haladi Srinivasa Shetty, emerged victorious in the third constituency.
Along with Mr. Hegde, Moodabidri Assembly segment former block Congress president Meghanath Shetty, former MLA of Ballari, Rathan Singh, too, joined the BJP.
Mr. Hegde, who unsuccessfully contested elections to the Legislative Council as an independent after being denied a ticket by Congress leaders in 2015, was expelled from the party for five years. With his formal entry into BJP, the former minister's supporters in Udupi, Kundapur, Kapu and Karkala Assembly constituencies, who had deserted the Congress, will follow suit on March 18. They will join the party in Udupi on that day. His entry into BJP will help the party consolidate its support base further in the coastal district and facilitate en masse voting in its favour by voters of Bunt community.
Soon after joining BJP, Mr Hegde said praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for demonetisation of high value currency notes and facilitating Goods Service Tax (GST).
The former minister vowed to strengthen the BJP in coastal and Chikkamagaluru districts ahead of next year's polls to the Assembly. "I am not joining the BJP from Congress. In fact, the Congress has expelled me year ago. So I am an independent candidate joining the BJP," he added.
Former deputy chief minister R. Ashok, who played a key role in wooing Mr Jayaprakash Hegde, said former external affairs minister S.M. Krishna, will join the BJP in New Delhi on March 15. He clarified that the that BJP was not poaching leaders from other parties, but they were joining the party on their own volition because of the impressive performance of Mr Modi's government.
Former MP jumps ship but does he have a future?
Though former MP jayaprakash Hegde has joined the saffron party, neither Congress nor BJP leaders see a bright future for him in BJP.
"Within four years of his joining Congress, he was fielded as the party candidate- once for the Assembly and twice for Parliament. The party devoted its resources and energy for his victory in the 2012 by-election. Though he lost the 2014 parliament election, he still was the Congress candidate. But he is after power and so joined BJP," a senior Congress leader told Deccan Chronicle.
"Throughout his life he was against the BJP and Sangh Parivar principles. He targeted saffron outfits and their workers more than us. How can such a person agree with the ideology of BJP? He poses as a secular leader in the region. How can he retain this image in BJP?" he questioned.
BJP leaders too think on similar lines. "His entry into BJP may create confusion among party leaders and workers. He had always targeted us more than other Congress leaders. His entry into BJP is purely political and for personal reasons. He wants to join BJP as it has a wave in its favour," a BJP leader reasoned.
"The BJP is already strong in Udupi. Jayaprakash Hegde's entry will not make much difference. Further he is a defeated candidate and does not have much charisma now. We are in power in all the taluks, panchayats, ZP, APMC and also won the parliament election. Naturally we have gained ground and are likely to win the next assembly election too," he said. BJP leaders want Hegde to work for the party than contest the forthcoming election.
