Five Independent MLAs likely to join Congress

BANGALORE: As a first sign of political realignments in the state, five legislators, who were elected in the 2008 Assembly polls as Independents — and all former ministers — including Narendraswamy and Venkataramanappa, are likely to join the Congress once elections are sure to be held to the Assembly. According to highly-placed sources in the state Congress party,  the Independent legislators, who had helped form the first-ever BJP government in the state and who were subsequently disowned by the saffron party, have reportedly expressed their willingness to join the Congress. “Already three of the five Independent legislators have made known their intention to join the Indian National Congress (INC) and have also approached the state Congress leaders seeking admission into the party,” sources close to the Congress stated.Stating that the Independents, who were originally from the Congress stable and contested the poll after they were denied the party ticket, had a horrible phase in the BJP and now want to join the Congress. Reacting to the reports, P M Narendraswamy,  one of the five Independent legislators,  neither denied nor confirmed the reports. But, he added, “All five Independent legislators will take a collective decision on the issue.” “We are in touch with a national political party,” Narendraswamy explained.It may be recalled that six Independent legislators, including the textile minister in the BJP government, had thrown their weight behind the BJP when the saffron party fell short of reaching the magic figure of 113 in the 224-member Karnataka Assembly after the 2008 elections. While five of them were inducted as ministers in the BJP government, they all fell out with the government and submitted a letter of withdrawal to the BJP government, which led them to subsequently lose their Assembly membership. The legislators, however, fought back, with a two-member Supreme Court Bench restoring their Assembly membership.