A.H. Vishwanath, BJP MLC, who has already made his intentions clear on returning to the Congress fold, met All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president D.K. Shivakumar at a hotel in Mysuru on Friday.
Speaking to a television channel after meeting the Congress leaders, Mr. Vishwanath said he met Mr. Surjewala and Mr. Shivakumar on the invitation of the KPCC chief with whom he has worked in the Congress for a long time.
As he had worked with the Congress for 40 long years, Mr. Vishwanath said Mr. Shivakumar invited him to meet Mr. Surjewala and discuss electoral strategies ahead of the upcoming Legislative Assembly elections in the State.
On when he would formally join the Congress, Mr. Vishwanath said he had announced his support to the party. “What is the need to join, when I have already announced by support to the party?”, he asked.
“I am independent. I am supporting the Congress”, he said, but added that he will join the party later.
He said he had joined the JD(S) in 2017, hoping the party will make a difference to the society. However, he said the party regrettably could not grow beyond the “family”. Though the party was allocated 12 berths in the coalition Ministry headed by H.D. Kumaraswamy, the family dominated the ministry and the party failed to provide proper representation to either minorities or Dalits.
He said he was disillusioned with the government and resigned from the Assembly, which paved the way for installation of a government headed by BJP’s B.S. Yediyurappa. However, the government was gripped by corruption and he told the BJP’s national observers that Mr. Yediyurappa had to step down because of the corruption charges.
Mr. Vishwanath claimed that his ideologies had not changed even though he had changed the parties. He said he never pursued flattery or sycophancy in politics.
The BJP MLC said he was not planning to contest the coming Assembly elections in the State. He also ruled out the possibility of his two sons – Amit Devarahatti and Poorvaj Vishwanath – contesting the Assembly elections of 2023.
He said real estate developers and people with wealth are entering politics, making it difficult for people like him to contest against them.
