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Ten Karnataka BJP MLAs meet Sonia, entry into Congress cleared

Decks were cleared on Wednesday for the formal entry of ten Bharatiya Janata Party Karnataka legislators, including two sitting MLAs, and eight expelled from the party into the Congress, after they met party president Sonia Gandhi in Delhi.

Gandhi assured the legislators that they would be taken into the party fold and their interests protected, state Revenue Minister Srikantaiah said after the meeting.

Besides Srikantaiah, AICC general secretary in charge of the state Vyalar Ravi and nine MLAs were present at the meeting.

They were Manohar Kakodkar, S H Putturanghanath [both sitting BJP MLAs] and expelled legislators V Krishnappa, V Pappana, H C Basavaraj, Hanme Gowda, Gundappa Vakil, Barati Shankar and A Manju. Expelled MLA C Guruswamy was not present.

All the MLAs had voted with the Congress in the Rajya Sabha polls and the two sitting BJP MLAs Kakodkar and Putturanganath were also 'in principle with us since then', Srikantaiah said.

Eight BJP MLAs were expelled for defying the party whip in Rajya Sabha polls that resulted in the election of industrialist Vijay Mallya as an independent.

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