Karnataka Assembly Polls: CM Bommai’s close aide Manjunath Kunnur joins Congress

In a massive setback to the Bharatiya Janata Party, Manjunath Kunnur, a close aide of Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, on Monday joined the Congress party ahead of the upcoming Karnataka polls. According to sources, Kunnur is most likely to challenge Bommai from his constituency. 

Apart from Manjunath Kunnur, JDS leader Devaraju also joined Congress with his supporters in the presence of KPCC chief DK Shivakumar and former state Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. 

Earlier on March 22, KPCC chief D K Shivakumar managed to wean away MLC Baburao Chinchansur. Reportedly, Chinchansur tendered his resignation after he was denied a ticket from the Gurmitkal constituency by the BJP for the upcoming state polls scheduled for May this year. 

Days before Chinchansur’s resignation, BJP leader sitting MLC Puttanna resigned from the saffron camp and joined Congress on March 9 alleging that large-scale corruption is going on in the Karnataka government. 

The BJP leaders resigning from the party and joining Congress is likely to give a major setback to the saffron camp in the upcoming state Assembly elections as the party is again eying to rule the state again.

Who is Manjunath Kunnur 

Believed to be the right hand of Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, Manjunath Kunnur is considered to be one of the prominent BJP leaders from his assembly constituency of Shiggaon in Karnataka’s Haveri district. Kunnur’s decision to join Congress is highlighting the declining popularity of Bommai in the state. 

Karnataka Assembly elections 2023

As the tenure of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly is coming to an end on May 24, 2023, the elections in the state are scheduled to be held before May 2023. However, the Election Commission has yet not revealed an official date for the elections. All the political parties, including the BJP and the Congress, have started campaigning in the state. Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also visited the state and made a strong pitch for the saffron party.   

Meanwhile, the Congress party has also released the first list of 124 candidates on March 25, which included the name of former Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah and state party chief DK Shivakumar. Karnataka Assembly polls are being termed crucial as it can impact the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha polls in a massive way.