Former legislator V S Patil quits BJP, joins Congress

Bengaluru: Former legislator V S Patil quit the BJP and joined the Congress on Thursday, December 15.

He was welcomed to the party by KPCC President D K Shivakumar in the KPCC office on Thursday.

Taking to Twitter, DKShi tweeted, “Inclusion of Yellapur former legislator V S Patil to Congress party has strengthened the party roots in Uttara Kannada district. V S Patil and Uttara Kannada district BJP leader Sri Srinivas Bhat have joined Congress at the KPCC office today. We heartily welcome them both to the party.”

Reports suggest that he will be fielded against BJP leader and current State Labour Minister Shivaram Hebbar from the Yellapur Assembly Constituency in the upcoming 2023 Karnataka Assembly polls.

Earlier, Patil was elected from the Yellapur Assembly Constituency with a BJP ticket.

However, in the 2013 and 2018 assembly polls he lost against Hebbar with a thin margin of votes.

Later, in a major political development during the Congress-JDS coalition government, Hebbar quit Congress and joined BJP, due to which, Patil had to sacrifice his Yellapur seat.

Political sources say that upset by the BJP’s decision, Patil quit the party and joined Congress today.