Three days after resigning as an MLC, former journalist Tejaswini Gowda on Saturday rejoined the Congress in New Delhi in the presence of party leaders Pawan Khera and Jairam Ramesh, MP. She quit the BJP, upset over not being fielded in the Lok Sabha election.
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Ms. Gowda was elected to the Council from the Legislative Assembly constituency from the BJP in 2018. She defected from the Congress and joined the BJP in 2014. Ms. Gowda was a Congress MP from 2004 to 2009. She termed her return to the grand old part as “homecoming”.
“We welcome Tejaswini Gowda, an active leader in Karnataka politics, to the Congress. We have full confidence that Tejaswini ji will remain active in the coming elections,” said Mr. Ramesh.
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In her remarks, Ms. Gowda said, “The Congress believes in action and not just words. History is there for us to see. It’s high time, and with all sincerity, I would like to work for the party. The BJP does not believe in constitutional democratic values,” she alleged.
‘Father has no objection’
In another development, Nisha Yogeshwar, daughter of the BJP MLC and former Minister C.P. Yogeshwar, has decided to join the Congress. Ms. Nisha said her father had “no objection” to her joining the Congress.
Ms. Nisha’s decision would help the Congress in Channapatna to secure more votes for the party’s candidate D.K. Suresh in Bengaluru Rural constituency. She met Mr. Suresh and KPCC chief and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and expressed her willingness to join the Congress.
The Channapatna Assembly segment would fall vacant if Janata Dal (Secular) leader and former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy emerges victorious in the Lok Sabha elections from Mandya constituency.