Mysore witnessing major 'political switchovers'

Mysore, Apr 20: Large-scale party switchovers of political leaders in Mysore during the last three years have completely redefined the political equations in the region, according to Congress party sources.

With Mr Siddaramaiah, who was expelled from the JD(S) while he was the Deputy Chief Minister in the JD(S)-Congress coalition government in 2005, returning to Congress in 2006, the political alignment in the region was totally disturbed, the sources opined.

Along with Mr Siddaramaiah, four other JD(S) MLAs from Mysore-- former minister C Mahadevappa (T Narasipura constituency), Manchanahalli Mahadev (K R Nagara) K Venkatesh (Periyapatna) and M K Somashekar (K R constituency in the city)-- also quit the party to join the Congress.

''Upset'' over JD(S) chief H D Deve Gowda's ''family politics,'' former Union Minister V Srinivas Prasad, who had won the Parliamentary elections five times from Chamarajanagara, quit the party to join the Congress, the sources claimed.

The JD(S) suffered a set back with the five leaders, who played crucial roles in the 2004 Assembly polls, quitting the party, they added.

The entry of Mr Siddaramaiah and Mr Prasad into the Congress fold, had ''prompted'' prominent Congress leaders M Mahadeva, Sandesh Nagaraj and Basave Gowda to quit the party, they said.

Mr Mahadeva, who was with the Congress for the past three decades, joined the BJP and was now scouting for a suitable constituency in Mysore.

Mr Nagaraj was likely to be fielded as the JD(S) candidate from the Narasimharaja constituency, while the party was yet to allot party ticket to Mr Basave Gowda.

The JD(S) received yet another ''blow'' when its former MLA from Hunsur G T Deve Gowda severed his decade-long ties with the party after the collapse of the power sharing agreement between the JD (S) and BJP in November 2007 and joined the BJP a few months ago, the sources added.

UNI