The entry of senior Congress leader and six-time MLA from Afzalpur constituency in Kalaburagi district, Malikayya Guttedar, into the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is likely to trigger dissent within the party.
M.Y. Patil, a strong aspirant of BJP ticket for Afzalpur, is likely to raise objections if he is denied a party ticket to accommodate Mr. Guttedar.
Speaking to The Hindu , Mr. Patil said that he had told BJP State president B.S. Yeddyurappa that he had no problem with welcoming Mr. Guttedar into the party provided the Afzalpur ticket was given to him.
“Mr. Yeddyurappa met me and asked whether we had any objection to Mr. Guttedar’s entry into the party. I told him that if it would help party prospects in the Assembly elections, we have no objection. I put forward a condition that the ticket for Afzalpur should be given to me,” he said.
Mr. Patil also expressed confidence that the party leadership would not betray him. “I am a sincere worker of the party and worked hard to ensure a good number of votes was polled in favour of the party candidate in the Lok Sabha election. Besides, I have been loyal to Mr. Yeddyurappa and gone with him when he left the party to form KJP [Karnataka Janata Party]. I am hopeful that the leadership would not betray me,” he said.
Party sources in Kalaburagi said that the purpose of bringing Mr. Guttedar was to field him in Afzalpur.
They said that denying party ticket to Mr. Patil and giving it to Mr. Guttedar was almost certain. In that case, Mr. Patil may quit BJP to join Congress, they said.
“It is a democracy and everyone is free to join any party. We cannot do anything if he [Mr. Guttedar] decides to quit the Congress and join the BJP. People will decide who they should elect,” Sharan Prakash Patil, Congress leader and Minister for Medical Education, told The Hindu .
