BJP MLA from Kudligi NY Gopalakrishna, who had quit as legislator on Friday, joined the Congress party in presence of senior leaders Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar. This comes ahead of the assembly elections in the southern state scheduled for May 10.
Gopalakrishna had quit the Congress party in 2018 ahead of assembly polls and joined the BJP. He, however, has returned to the Congress' fold ahead of 2023 polls.
Gopalakrishna, who's been a six-time member of Karnataka assembly, will boost the grand old party's prospects in upcoming assembly polls.
DK Shivakumar, posting pictures of Gopalakrishna joining Congress, wrote on Twitter: "Gopalakrishna, a former MLA and senior leader, has joined the Congress party, believing in its principles and ideology. We extend a warm welcome to him and wish him a prosperous and fulfilling political career in the future."
Gopalakrishna is likely to get the Congress ticket from the Kudligi constituency.
More about Kudligi constituency
Kudligi (ST) is a State Assembly/Vidhan Sabha constituency in the Bellary district and Central Karnataka region of Karnataka and is a part of the Bellary Parliamentary/Lok Sabha constituency.
The constituency has a total of 1,94,484 registered voters, including general voters, NRI voters, and service voters. Among the general voters, 99,023 are male, 95,425 are female, and 12 belong to other genders. The constituency's sex ratio is 96.34, and the approximate literacy rate is 68%.
Previous election results
In 2018 assembly elections, N Y Gopalakrishna, who contested on a BJP ticket from this constituency, defeated the JD(S) and Congress candidates.
Gopalakrishna, securing 32.93% votes, defeated JDS (25.82%) and Congress (15.33%) candidates.
Gopalakrishna polled 50,085 from Kudligi constituency in 2018.
In the 2013 Karnataka Assembly Elections, IND won this seat with a margin of 24,803 votes (18.66%), securing 53.77% of the total votes polled. The voter turnout for that election was 78%.
In the 2008 Assembly Elections, BJP won this seat with a margin of 8,757 votes (7.8%), registering 48.52% of the votes polled. In the 2018 elections, the voter turnout for this seat was 52%.
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