Raju Kage, a former BJP MLA from Kagwad in Karnataka, has decided to join the Congress after the BJP refused to give him a ticket for the December 5 by-elections. Nominations for the bypolls have opened, and the ruling BJP is expected to face dissent in several seats.

Kage’s move

Kage said he had been with the BJP for 15-20 years without its backing, and that with the party firmly deciding against fielding him, he had no option but to contest on a Congress ticket. He lost the 2018 assembly election to Srimant Patil, then a Congress MLA and one of the 17 legislators who brought down the Congress-JD(S) government in July. Patil missed the floor test in the Vidhana Soudha citing ill health, but was later seen with the other rebel MLAs at a private hotel in Mumbai.

Over the weekend, Kage met Congress leader D K Shivakumar and spoke to former chief minister Siddaramaiah and state Congress chief Dinesh Gundu Rao, who assured him of a ticket. Kage said he would join the Congress on November 12, claimed support from both BJP and Congress workers in his seat, and said he would win.

BJP’s response and other dissent

Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa appeared unconcerned, saying people move between parties in both directions and that he would talk to Kage and Poojary. He predicted the BJP would win at least 12 seats.

Sharath Bachegowda, son of Chikkaballapura BJP MP B N Bachegowda, has warned he will run as an independent from Hoskote if the BJP fields disqualified MLA MTB Nagaraj, who beat him by about 2000 votes. He said he would wait for the Supreme Court’s ruling on the disqualified MLAs, due to be heard on November 13.

Background

Bypolls to 15 seats were needed after the then Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar disqualified 17 MLAs, leading to the fall of the H D Kumaraswamy-led coalition government.

See also: Indian National Congress and more election news.

Originally published on 12 November 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

Share on Facebook

Tweet

Follow us