A day after quitting JD(S), senior leader Basavaraj Horatti joins BJP
India Today
Basavaraj Horatti resigned as the Chairman of Karnataka Legislative Council and also as an MLC on Monday. "Sometimes sudden changes happen...," said Horatti.
Former senior JD(S) leader and ex-chairman of legislative council Basavaraj Horatti officially joined the BJP today in the presence of Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.
Basavaraj Horatti resigned as the Chairman of Karnataka Legislative Council and also as an MLC on Monday.
Thanking the leadership of his former party JD(S) -- HD Deve Gowda and H D Kumaraswamy -- for the opportunity, Horatti said they still consider him as their family member.
"I have resigned today as the Chairman of the Karnataka Legislative Council along with that also as MLC...I will be joining the BJP tomorrow, most probably at the party office in Bengaluru," Horatti told reporters on Monday.
"Sometimes sudden changes happen. As some in my constituency and well-wishers were putting pressure on me insisting that I change, I had to accept it... I first got elected as an independent and thereafter got associated with the then Janata Dal and its breakaway JD(S). In 42 years of my political life, this is my first change," he added.
Horatti had earlier this month met Union Home Minister Amit Shah during the latter's visit to Bengaluru. He is likely to be fielded as the party's candidate for the upcoming MLC polls from West Teachers’ constituency.
With this, Horatti, who has been elected as MLC seven successive times from 1980, has ended his long association with the JD(S).
