Sandalwood filmmaker-actor S Narayan joined the Congress on Wednesday, in the presence of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president D K Shivakumar.
Pre-university teachers’ unionist Thimmaiah Purle, who was with the JD(S), also joined Congress.
“There’s a long list of people waiting to join the Congress. We have to fix dates for their induction,” Shivakumar said. On the possibility of some Congress leaders joining the BJP, he said, “I know with whom the chief minister has spoken. I ask the BJP president to immediately induct MLAs his party is in touch with.”
Shivakumar expressed confidence that the Congress was far from over in Karnataka, notwithstanding the recent election results in five states. “People of the state want change. We will stand on our own feet,” he said.
“People are saying things like the Congress is over and that it’ll bite the dust. Priyanka Gandhi held over 200 meetings, which will help us with the next steps. In Punjab, we lost power because of our internal squabbles,” he added.
Narayan is expected to mobilise the film industry in the Congress’ favour in the run-up to the 2023 Assembly elections. Purle will use his past experience of heading the pre-university teachers association to work for the party. In 2020, Purle was the JD(S) candidate for the Karnataka North East Teachers constituency election of the Legislative Council.
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