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Buzz over BJP MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi joining JD(S) after brother meets HDK
JD(S) state president C M Ibrahim refused to comment on the matter, however, he said a “new gate will open for the party in the northern range from Belagavi during the next election.” He added that his “party would be enriched with a heavy boost in the Chikkodi division of the district shortly”.
A meeting between Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Ramesh Jarkiholi’s brother Balachandra and Janata Dal (Secular) leader H D Kumaraswamy has set off buzz among political circles of the MLA switching parties.
Jarkiholi, who represents the Gokak assembly constituency, was a minister in the then B S Yediyurappa-led cabinet in 2021 and resigned after a complaint of sexual exploitation was filed against him. He was among the Congress MLAs who had resigned in July 2019 leading to the collapse of the JD(S)-Congress government in the state. He had subsequently joined the BJP and won the by-election.
According to a JD(S) leader in the know of developments as well as officers of the state intelligence department, Balachandra Jarkiholi, who is known to be close to Kumaraswamy, met him twice in Bengaluru and discussed the possibility his brother and some of his supporting legislators joining the JD(S).
The leader said that during the discussion, Kumaraswamy has said that the party’s doors are always open for “the Jarkiholi team.”
Balachandra is presently the chairman of the Karnataka Milk Federation. He was a minister in the JD(S) government headed by Kumaraswamy in 2006 and had switched to the BJP in 2019.
“Balachandra, though her left the party, has maintained good terms with Kumaraswamy. After observing the developments in BJP where his brother was not being entertained, he thought that he (Ramesh) may not be given a ticket to contest from Gokak in the next election,” a person close to Jarkiholi’s family said.
Both Ramesh and Balchandra did not participate in BJP’s Sankalpa yatra held in three taluks in the district last Wednesday.
“As the party leadership did not help Ramesh during his critical time, both the Jarkiholi brothers in BJP too maintaining distance from the party,” said the person mentioned above.
Assembly elections in the state are due in 2023.
BJP MLAs Mahesh Kumatolli (Athani) and Shrimanth Patil (Kagwad) are expected to follow Jarkiholi into the JD(S) since they won the previous election with his support, said another person close to Jarkiholi’s family.
JD(S) state president C M Ibrahim refused to comment on the matter, however, he said a “new gate will open for the party in the northern range from Belagavi during the next election.” He added that his “party would be enriched with a heavy boost in the Chikkodi division of the district shortly”.
The party’s former minority wing president, Faizulla Madiwale, also said the district’s politics will experience “major changes in days to come where the party would win a minimum of three seats in the next election”.
