The Chief Minister of Karnataka, Basavaraj Bommai, has accused the President of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), DK Shivakumar, of attempting to lure Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs by offering them tickets. Bommai alleged that Shivakumar has been making phone calls to BJP MLAs in 100 constituencies where Congress is yet to announce candidates, stating that if they join Congress, they will be given a ticket. The Chief Minister said that this move by Congress indicates that they are bankrupt and do not have proper candidates.
The Congress has announced its first list of 124 candidates for the upcoming assembly polls, while Karnataka has a total of 224 assembly segments. Bommai’s statement came after several BJP leaders who were denied tickets joined the Congress, including Manjunath Kunnur, a close aide of the Chief Minister.
It seems that several leaders from different political parties have joined the Congress party in Karnataka, including Manjunath Kunnur, a former BJP leader and close aide of Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai. Kunnur and others joined the Congress in the presence of KPCC President DK Shivakumar, who criticized the CM for not taking his close friends into confidence. Kunnur alleged that the BJP is a terror-based party and that he will remain with the Congress party. The BJP has accused the Congress of poaching its MLAs by offering them tickets, while the Congress has not responded to these allegations.
