SHIVAMOGGA: Veteran Congress leader and former Assembly Speaker Kagodu Thimmappa’s daughter Dr Rajanandini joined the BJP in the presence of senior party leaders, including BS Yediyurappa, in Bengaluru on Wednesday. Sources said that she switched sides to BJP after not getting a Congress ticket.
Rajanandini’s decision, however, has not gone down well with her father, Thimmappa.
Speaking to reporters at his residence in Sagar, Thimmappa said he was upset and he would try to convince his daughter to reconsider her decision. “I came to know about her joining the BJP just a moment ago. I never thought in my dreams that she would take such a decision. I entered politics with a sense of commitment and have maintained that commitment until now. I feel like she has stabbed me in the chest by joining the BJP. It is unfortunate,” he said.
Thimmappa asserted that he would remain in Congress and work for the Congress in the elections.
“I think there is a strategy behind this. sitting BJP MLA Haratalu Halappa may have also played a role,” he suspected. Thimmappa said that if she was upset about not getting the ticket, she should have told him. “I also urged the party leaders to give her a ticket if possible. She could have grown politically in the Congress rather than joining the BJP,” he said.