MANDYA : With JD(S) leaders keen on identifying potential candidates for the 2018 Assembly elections, rebel MLAs, led by N Chaluvarayaswamy, showed their strength by taking out a huge rally, sending a strong message to party state president H D Kumaraswamy.
Over 15,000 supporters took the leaders in a procession and sounded the bugle for the 2018 elections. For the first time after they were suspended, Zameer Ahmad Khan, H C Balakrishna, Ramesh Babu, Iqbal Ansari, Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy, Bheema Nayak, former council chairman Puttanna and former MLC B Ramakrishna came together to show their strength and decide on their political future.
They also facilitated former MP D Made Gowda. Speaking on the occasion, Made Gowda urged the rebel JD(S) MLAs to join the Congress. He said KPCC president G Parameshwara should take an initiative to admit them into the party.
Zameer Khan lashed out at Kumaraswamy and claimed that they were the ones who made him chief minister. Reiterating that the rebels are united, he said Chaluvarayaswamy has proved his mettle in Mandya.
Former Chanarayapatna MLA Putte Gowda said people should teach a lesson to those who claim Mandya as their ‘personal property’.