BJP rebel Dayananda Murthy joins JD(S)

Nanjungud: After Kalale Keshavamurthy left the party to join the Congress, contesting on whose ticket he went on to win the Nanjangud bypoll last year, JD(S), which was looking for a prospective candidate from the segment is likely to field Dayananda Murthy who joined the party on Wednesday. Murthy had earlier contested as a rebel BJP candidate in the zilla panchayat elections, and was an independent member of the body.He is now reportedly eyeing the ticket from the reserved Nanjangud constituency.
Murthy on Wednesday paid a visit to the JD(S) taluk office, thereby signaling his entry to the party.
However, JD(S) district president N Narasimha Swamy clarified that the candidate for the segment had not been decided yet. “Anybody who joins the party will have to work to strengthen it at the grassroots level,” Swamy said.
The candidate for the Nanjangud segment would be announced during the Kumara Parva rally, said the party’s district SC/ST wing president Belawadi Shivakumar. “Had Kalale been with the JD(S), he would have been the MLA for a full five-year term, but he has lost the opportunity,” he said.
On the other hand, Murthy expressed relief at having left what he described as a ‘claustrophobic’ atmosphere within the BJP. “I am confident of mobilising 15,000 people for the Kumara Parva rally slated to take place in Nanjangud,” said Murthy.