Poaching on as party-hopping hits BJP, Congress in Channapatna

Bengaluru: Signifying the high stakes involved in the Channapatna bypoll, the BJP lost six of its councillors to the Congress while a senior leader from the grand old party switched to the JD(S) all on Tuesday.

Of the seven councillors the BJP had in the Channapatna City Municipal Council, six joined Congress. They were inducted into Congress by former Bangalore Rural MP D K Suresh. Bengaluru-Mysuru Infrastructure Corridor Area Planning Authority chairperson Raghunandan Ramanna was also present.

In the 2021 elections to the 31-member Channapatna City Municipal Council, 16 JD(S) members were elected, seven each of Congress and BJP and one independent candidate Uma.

Last month, Congress gained control of the Channapatna civic body when 13 out of 16 JD(S) members and Uma switched sides.

Meanwhile, former Ramanagara-Channapatna Urban Development Authority chairperson Sharada Chandrashekar joined JD(S). A former Congress general secretary, Sharada joined JD(S) in the presence of Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy and other leaders.

“Sharada joining our party is a plus point as she’s very influential in the district and has her own set of followers,” former Magadi JD(S) MLA A Manjunath said, claiming that other local Congress leaders would join JD(S) soon.

At Byrasettihalli, local Congress leaders, including Youth Congress members, joined JD(S).

Truce meeting

Earlier in the day, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar organised a truce meeting between his 'sulking' aide Raghunandan Ramanna and Yogeshwar.

Ramanna was to get the Congress' bypoll ticket. He was disappointed after Yogeshwar, who jumped ship from the BJP, was picked as the party's nominee. Ramanna contributed to Congress' increase in votes -- from 15,000 in the Assembly poll last year to about 87,000 in the Lok Sabha election -- at Channapatna.

According to a statement from Shivakumar's office, Ramanna has agreed to work towards Yogeshwar's victory.

HDK promises Ramanagara city corp

Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy, whose son Nikhil Kumaraswamy is contesting the Channapatna bypoll, promised Tuesday that the Ramanagara City Municipal Council would be upgraded into a corporation when the JD(S)-BJP alliance forms the government.

"One day, the JD(S)-BJP government will come to power in the state," he said. Kumaraswamy also frowned upon Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar's move to rename Ramanagara as Bengaluru South. "Some are trying to loot land. We're children of this soil. We won't eke out a living by selling land," he said.