The defectors’ gallery: Of 17 who helped BJP topple Cong-JD(S) govt, 14 survive ups and downs to get tickets

In the two lists the BJP has released so far, 14 of those 17 MLAs find a place, one of them via his son. The three who haven’t are Roshan Baig, R Shankar and H Vishwanath.

The 14:

1. Prathapgouda Patil, Maski seat (not a sitting MLA)

This former legislator from the ST-reserved Maski constituency in Raichur district had started playing hide-and-seek with the Congress soon after he won from the party ticket in 2018. Just before it went to the Assembly floor to prove its majority along with the JD(S), the Congress had spent two hours searching desperately for Patil and another MLA, Anand Singh. Congress sources indicated the two were ensconsced in a hotel, some 3 km from the Assembly, with BJP legislator Somashekhara Reddy. Patil was finally located and escorted back to the Assembly.

But if the Congress-JD(S) survived this scare, the next blow came within a year. Patil was among the 17 MLAs who resigned their seats and moved to the BJP, helping the latter return to power.

In the Maski bypoll held subsequently, in May 2021, Patil lost to Basanaguda Turvihal of the Congress by 30,606 votes.

2. Mahesh Kumathalli, Athani seat

The Athani seat in Belagavi district is dominated by the Lingayat community, to which Kumathalli belongs. In 2018, he had won on a Congress ticket from Athani by a thin margin of 2,331 votes against Laxman Savadi of the BJP. Kumathalli was seen to have been backed by Gokak (also part of Belagavi) MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi owing to his feud with Savadi.

In 2019, Kumathali resigned as MLA, and joined the BJP. In the subsequent 2019 bypolls, Kumathalli retained Athani, increasing his victory margin to 39,989 votes.

3. Shrimant Patil, Kagwad seat

In 2018, Patil won the Kagwad seat against Bharamagouda Kage by 32,942 votes on a Congress ticket. Among the 17 defectors, he had retained the seat in a bypoll in 2019, against Kage again, by a substantially lower margin of 18,557 votes.

Patil had made headlines in September 2021 when he said the BJP had offered him money to cross over. “They asked me how much money I wanted, but I refused the money and asked them to give me a good position after the government is formed. I have joined the BJP without taking money. Now, they have promised to consider my name when there will be a Cabinet expansion,” he added. His statement, that had left the BJP red faced, was apparently prompted by his removal as minister.

4. B C Patil, Hirekerur seat

A policeman-turned-actor-turned-politician, Patil had first won Kirekerur on a Janata Dal ticket in 2004. He had then switched to the Congress and retained Hirekerur in 2008 and 2018, the last time by a very tiny margin of 555 seats. In 2019, Patil was among the 17 defectors to the Congress. In the 2019 bypolls he contested, Patil defeated Bannikod Hanumantappa of the Congress by 29,067 votes. He is the agriculture minister in the incumbent Basavaraj Bommai government.

Recently, he had set rumour mills churning after saying that one of the ministers who had resigned from the Congress-JD(S) coalition in 2019 might join the Congress.

5. Shivaram Hebbar, Yellapur seat

His name had cropped up right after the 2018 results. As the Governor invited the BJP to form the government, the Congress alleged the party was trying to buy MLAs to prove its majority, and specifically accused Yediyurappa’s son B Y Vijayendra and close associate B J Puttaswamy of trying to “lure” Hebbar’s wife with money and ministerial offers for her husband.

Finally, in 2019, Hebbar had joined other MLAs in resigning and moving to the BJP, and was made the state labour minister.

While in 2018, he had won against the BJP’s Andalagi Veerabhadragouda Shivanagouda by 1,483 votes, in the 2019 bypolls, he defeated another Congress candidate, Bhimanna Naik, 31,408 votes.

6. S T Somashekar, Yeshwanthpur seat

In 2018, Somshekar won from Yeshwanthpur in Bengaluru by edging out the (JD)’s T N Javarayi Gowda by 10,711 votes. When he later defected and contested the 2019 bypolls, he defeated Gowda by a margin of 27,699 votes, and was subsquently made cooperation minister.

In October 2022, the Congress demanded his sacking after the Supreme Court rejected his plea to stay an FIR in a Rs 12-crore bribery case over a Bangalore Development Authority contract.

7. Byrathi Basavaraj, K R Pura seat

Basavaraj won from Krishnarajpura or K R Pura constituency in Bengaluru on a Congress ticket in 2018 by a margin of over 32,000 votes. In the 2019 bypolls, he retained the seat by over 22,000 votes against Congress candidate M Narayanaswamy.

In December 2021, the Congress sought a premature adjournment of the state legislative council demanding Basavraj’s resignation over a court order for a criminal probe against him in a land grab case.

8. K Gopalaiah, Mahalakshmi Layout seat

The JD(S) leader won against the BJP’s NL Narendra Babu by 41,100 votes in 2018 in this Bengaluru Urban seat. In the 2019 bypolls, Gopalaiah took on JD(S) candidate Girish K Nashi and Congress candidate M Shivraju. The bypoll was considered a matter of prestige for the JD(S), as Mahalakshmi Layout was among only a handful of constituencies left in Bengaluru where the party wielded considerable heft.

Gopalaiah won the seat for the BJP by 54,386 votes, and also went on to get the Excise Ministry.

9. N Muniratna, R R Nagar seat

A popular producer who owns Vrushabavathi productions, Muniratna Naidu, known just as Muniratna, has been at the centre of many controversies over the last couple of years.

Last month, the police booked Munirathna for his alleged hate speech against Christians. On Monday, the Karnataka State Contractors’ Association, with whom Muniratna was engaged in a long-time tussle, said that it was moving a contempt petition in the Supreme Court over the delay in arresting the minister in the case. Munirathna gave a seven-day ultimatum to the contractors to furnish evidence and later filed a civil defamation case seeking Rs 50 crore in damages. In 2018, the CID had named the 58-year-old in connection with a fake bill scam in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).

Munirathna is alleged to have links with contractors in Bengaluru city who control various city projects and is closely associated with Congress leaders such as Ramalinga Reddy and D K Shivakumar, as well as former CM H D Kumaraswamy. He produced a film featuring his son and actor-turned-politician Nikhil Kumaraswamy, as well as Rajnikanth blockbuster Lingaa.

Muniratna won against the BJP’s Muniraju Gowda P M on a Congerss ticket in 2018 with 25,492 votes. He would increase his margin by 57,672 votes, defeating Congress candidate H Kusuma in the 2021 bypolls. He subsequently got the horticulture department post.

10. Ramesh Jarkiholi, Gokak seat

This leader from the ST Valmiki community comes from one of the most influential political families in Belagavi district. His brother Balachandra is also a BJP MLA. His elder brother Satish Jarkiholi is the KPCC working president, with significant clout in parts of Karnataka, while younger brother Lakhan Jarkiholi was elected MLC after contesting as an Independent recently.

Ramesh has been in the spotlight for his longstanding row with KPCC president D K Shivakumar in connection with a sex CD case. An SIT formed to investigate the case had absolved the legislator of charges levelled against him. Recently, Ramesh alleged that it was Shivakumar who ensnared him in a “honey trap” in what he terms an extortion bid. He also accused the Congress president of blackmailing BJP MLAs to join the Congress with such CDs.

He defeated Ashok Pujari as a Congress candidate in 2018 with 14,280 votes. In 2019, he faced off against his brother Lakhan, defeating him by a margin of 29,006 votes.

11. Dr. K Sudhakar, Chikaballapur seat

He won against the JD(S)’s K P Bachegowda in 2018 by 30,431 votes. In the 2019 bypolls, he won by a margin of 34,801 votes against Congress candidate M Anjanappa. He was subsequently given the Medical Education, and Health and Family Welfare portfolio.

In October 2021, he was in a soup for his comment saying: “Today, I am sorry to say this, lots of modern women in India want to stay single. Even if they get married, they don’t want to give birth. They want surrogacy.” He was also under attack during Covid for alleged irregularities in the departments handled by him.

12. K C Narayana Gowda, K R Pet seat

This MLA who got the Youth and Sports Affairs portfolio was one of the three JD(S) leaders to join the BJP in 2019. There were reports recently that Gowda was uncertain of his prospects in the BJP, and even claimed that he was approached by the Congress. But all seems to be well, now that he is being fielded again from K R Pet in Mandya

He had won the seat in 2018 against K B Chandrashekar of the Congress by 17,119 votes. He trumped B L Devraj of the JD(S) by a margin of 9,731 votes in the 2019 bypolls.

13. M T B Nagaraj, Hosakote seat (not sitting MLA)

He is among the few rebels leaders to have lost the 2019 bypolls. Independent candidate Sharath Kumar Bachegowda, who incidentally used to be with the BJP, had won the Hosakote seat by a margin of 11,486 seats. One year earlier, in the 2018 polls, Nagaraj had defeated Bachegowda by 7,597 votes.

Nagaraj had won the 2020 MLC polls though and currently has the municipal administration portfolio. He recently lamented his decision to move from one party to the other.

14. Anand Singh’s son Siddharth, Vijayanagar seat

In this seat in Bellari district, the BJP has accommodated the son of four-time MLA Anand Singh, who was among the first to quit the Congress to join the BJP after the 2018 elections.

A powerful baron with business interests in mining and transportation, Anand Singh is the incumbent minister for tourism, ecology and environment. The wealthy businessman is accused in around 15 cases of illegal mining and forest crimes since 2012. He, however, dismisses the pending cases against him, saying forest violations were minor in nature, like traffic violations.