Two former Janata Dal (Secular) MLAs D.C. Gowri Shankar, son of former minister late C. Chennigappa, and R. Manjunath joined the Congress on November 15 in the presence of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president D. K. Shivakumar, who is also the Deputy CM.
Mr. Gowri Shankar was elected from Madhugiri Assembly constituency in 2008, and from Tumakuru Rural Assembly constituency in 2018. He chaired the MSIL Foundation for six months during the tenure of the coalition government of JD(S) and Congress.
In March 2023, he was disqualified by the Karnataka High Court as an MLA for the Tumakuru Rural Assembly constituency. Justice S. Sunil Dutt Yadav ruled that Mr. Gowri Shankar had used unauthorised means while campaigning in the 2018 Assembly elections. He had lost the election in 2023.
R. Manjunath was elected to the Assembly from Dasarahalli constituency in Bengaluru in 2018. He had lost the election in 2023.
Pointing to the JD(S) alliance with the BJP, Mr. Siddaramaiah said both leaders quit the JD(S) to uphold the principles of secularism and the Constitution of India.
“The JD(S) was a secular party when I was in that party. Now, it is only the Janata Dal,” the Chief Minister said, adding, “The JD(S) has become the ‘B’ team of the BJP. The JD(S) is largely a party of one family. More JD(S) leaders would join the Congress in the future.”
