C.H. Vijayshankar, former MP, on Monday announced his decision to rejoin the BJP.
Mr. Vijayshankar, a two-time BJP MP from Mysuru who had quit the party in October 2017 to join the Congress, had unsuccessfully contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Mysuru.
Speaking to The Hindu , he said he would join the BJP at its party office in Bengaluru on Tuesday.
After meeting the party’s State president Nalin Kumar Kateel in Mysuru recently, Mr. Vijayshankar said he was invited to Bengaluru on Sunday to meet Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, who asked him to bury the differences and return to the BJP fold.
Mr. Vijayshankar attributed his decision to his disillusionment in the Congress. Though he claimed that he was grateful to former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for keeping his word and fielding him as the Congress candidate from Mysuru in the Lok Sabha polls, Mr. Vijayshankar regretted that he could not get an opportunity in the party to do the kind of work that matched his seniority and experience.
Mr. Vijayshankar laid the blame for his loss in the recent Lok Sabha polls at the doorstep of the Congress’ alliance with the JD(S). “The alliance failed us. There was absence of trust in the alliance”, he said.
“I am neither an elected representative nor do I have any work in the party organisation. If I continue like this, people will forget me. I need to be active in politics and so decided to accept the invitation by the BJP to return to the party,” he said.
When asked whether he met Mr. Siddaramaiah before taking the decision, he said he met his son and Varuna MLA Yathindra and discussed his political dilemma. Though he waited for a couple of days, he did not hear from him and decided to return to the BJP, Mr. Ugrappa said.
