Sibling rivalry: Malikayya Guttedar likely to join Congress

Former minister and BJP leader Malikayya Guttedar may join the Congress party as he is upset over the induction of his brother Nithin Guttedar into the saffron fold.

He spoke against state BJP president B Y Vijayendra and other leaders during a meeting of his supporters on Tuesday.

He accused them of indulging in “corrupt” activities and said he would take a final decision to join Congress on April 19.

Guttedar complained that former chief minister B S Yediyurappa and his son Vijayendra have purposely denied tickets to party leaders K S Eshwarappa, Sanganna Karadi and Prathap Simha. He said the Congress came to power in Karnataka due to the corruption in previous BJP government and not because of the guarantee schemes. He said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar have invited him to join the Congress.