As expected, two-term MLA U B Banakar of the BJP, an aide of former CM BS Yediyurappa, joined the Congress with his supporters in the presence of KPCC president D K Shivakumar and CLP leader Siddaramaiah, at the KPCC headquarters here on Monday. Banakar hails from the powerful Lingayat community, and is among a long list of leaders joining the Congress. Banakar was like a thorn in the side for Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai as he had won Hirekerur assembly seat, which is close to Bommai’s constituency Shiggaon.
Banakar resigned from the BJP primary membership and his other positions as chairman of Karnataka Warehousing Corporation and director of Veerashaiva Lingayat Development Corporation. His joining the Congress means he has effectively blocked the return of B C Patil to the Congress; the latter had quit the party and joined the BJP in 2019.Banakar submitted his application to contest from Hirekerur.
“I worked with the BJP for three decades, but in 2018, B C Patil who won the seat from the Congress, joined the BJP. I will win the seat in 2023,’’ said Banakar, who lost narrowly in 2018.