Karnataka: Amit Shah in town, big JD(S) Lingayat name joins BJP

A seven-time MLC since 1980, Horatti, 72, was seen as an important Lingayat leader of the JD(S). He is likely to be the BJP candidate for the MLC polls from West Teachers’ constituency, expected to be held in June or July this year. Horatti’s term as MLC ends in June.

The JD(S) has its bastion in south Karnataka, and is considered a party of the Vokkaligas, the community to which the Deve Gowda family belongs. Horatti was one of its few prominent faces in north Karnataka, and has served as the state education minister.

Horatti had been with the JD(S) barring just his first election, which he won as an Independent. Speaking to reporters after joining the BJP in Shah’s presence, Horatti explained his decision to make the switch as “politics”. “Shah told me that senior people like me joining the BJP is important and there will be political growth,” Horatti said.

He said he continues to respect the JD(S), “but due to the changed situation and voters’ response, I have joined the BJP”.

Before the decision, Horatti held talks with BJP national president J P Nadda and former BJP CM and fellow Lingayat leader, B S Yediyurappa, who invited him to the party.

The BJP might run into some issues with its local leaders in Hubballi over Horatti’s induction. A former MLC and close aide of Yediyurappa, Mohan Limbikai, recently expressed confidence about getting the MLC ticket from West Teachers’ Constituency, saying Horatti had no chance, being above the age of 75.

Claiming that the state BJP had recommended his name to the central leadership, Limbikai said last month month: “CM Basavaraj Bommai, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi and former CM Jagadish Shettar asked me to enrol voters, do campaigning and tour four districts in the constituency. I have already done so and enrolled 10,000 voters. I will be the official candidate of the BJP, and Horatti will not get the ticket.”

Among the stops Shah made Tuesday was to pay floral tributes to the 12th-century social reformer and Lingayat saint Basaveshwara, on his birth anniversary.

Lingayats, who are an estimated 17% of the state population, are considered a strong vote bank of the BJP. He was accompanied by CM Bommai, Pralhad Joshi, state BJP president Nalin Kumar Kateel and party ministers and state leaders.