The former BJP Minister B. Nagaraja Shetty joined the Janata Dal (Secular) at a function held at the Town Hall on Monday. Mr. Shetty recently resigned as Chairman of the Coastal Area Development Authority.
“I am not joining this party with any selfish motive or with an intention to have post. I have joined because of the good relations I enjoy with Mr. Kumaraswamy. I will be like any other Janata Dal (S) activist, who will work tirelessly to see Kumaraswamy back as the Chief Minister,” he said after being inducted into the party. Mr. Shetty said there was no business interest involved in his association with JD (S).
Supporters gathered in large numbers at the Town Hall to see Mr. Shetty and a few other BJP and Congress activists joining the JD(S). The attention was all on Mr. Shetty, who came to the venue with his supporters in as many as five buses.
Mr. Shetty sang two songs as the crowd waited for former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and other JD (S) leaders to take part in the function.
Welcoming Mr. Shetty to the party, Mr. Kumaraswamy said many more leaders from the BJP and the Congress were likely to join the JD (S). Mr. Kumaraswamy said there has been disenchantment among electorate over the anti-people policies of Congress-led UPA Government at the Centre and of the BJP Government in the State.
‘Chance for JD (S)’
“There were more chances for the Janata Dal (Secular) to come back to power. The BJP will bite the dust in the upcoming elections,” he said.
Asking the electorate from Dakshina Kannada to vote in favour of his party, Mr. Kumaraswamy said the BJP and the Congress had exploited religious sentiments of the people. If the electorate supported the Janata Dal (S), the party would strive for implementation of people-oriented policies.
The former Ministers K. Amarnath Shetty and Zameer Ahmed Khan, President of State Yuva Janata Dal (Secular) K. Amarnath Shetty and Janata Dal (S) Dakshina Kannada Unit president M.B. Sadashiva also spoke.
Earlier, Mr. Kumaraswamy told presspersons about the party’s intention to have a new district unit spokesperson replacing M.G. Hegde, who recently joined the party after quitting the Congress.
“There have been conflicting statements. Hence we issued a note to media houses only to accept statements issued by three office-bearers of the party’s district unit. The name of the new spokesperson will be announced shortly,” he said.
