BENGALURU: Independent MLA from Hoskote Sharath Bachegowda will formally join hands with the Congress on Thursday in the presence of KPCC President DK Shivakumar. Since there is no legal provision for an independent MLA to join any party, Sharath will join the Congress as an ‘associate member’, while his supporters and followers will take up membership of the party, said Shivakumar.
Sharath’s support to Congress comes even as his father BN Bachegowda continues to represent Chikkaballapur Lok Sabha Constituency as a Bharatiya Janata Party MP. A former BJP leader himself, Sharath quit the party in 2019 to contest Hoskote bypoll as an independent candidate after the BJP refused to give him a ticket.
BJP fielded MTB Nagaraj, who had quit the Congress-JDS coalition government eventually, leading to the BJP coming to power in Karnataka. “Since there are restrictions on an independent MLA joining any party, Sharath will join the Congress as an associate member. He will back the party officially. His supporters will take up memberships,” said Shivakumar while speaking to reporters on Wednesday.