TUMAKURU: JD(S) rebel and Chamarajpet MLA Zameer Ahmed Khan on Sunday said he along with six other rebel MLAs will meet AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi on August 17.
KPCC president G Parameshwara, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Energy Minister D K Shivakumar will accompany them. Zameer told media persons that eight more JD(S) MLAs are ready to jump the ship and join Congress in February 2018.
“Seven MLAs, including me, will join the party in December,” he added. Lashing out at JD(S) leadership, he said the party is restricted to a family and the MLAs have no freedom to express their opinions. “I am an original Congressman. I joined JD(S) because of Adichunchanagiri’s late religious head Sri Balagangadharanatha Swamiji’s request,” he said.
He also criticised cine star Upendra for launching his own party. “Cinema alone will not work out in politics and people of Karnataka have shown the door to many an actor,” he said recalling the defeat of superstar Shivaraj Kumar’s wife in Shivamogga Lok Sabha seat.
Another JD(S) rebel N Chaluvarayaswamy echoed the same in Maddur. He said the rebel MLAs will join the Congress in the presence of the Chief Minister, the KPCC president, senior leader Mallikarjuna Kharge.