Bengaluru: BJP rebel leader Raju Kage has said that he is done with the BJP and is all set to join the Congress on November 13.
Speaking to a Kannada news portal, he said that he has already met Congress leaders DK Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah and Dinesh Gundurao and has discussed the possibilities of joining the Congress. “They have promised me a ticket for the by-elections from the party from Kagwad and I will join them,” he said adding that the time is crucial for him because if he decides to stay away from politics and remain at home, he will have to remain at home forever. “I had lost the last polls with a narrow margin and now the BJP has decided to not issue a ticket to me. The BJP wants me to sit at home for at least three more years, which is impossible. I have decided to find my own way and shape my political career. The BJP is not ready to give me what I deserve,’’ he said.
Kage’s decision to quit the BJP comes in wake of the party’s decision to issue a ticket to disqualified MLA Srimanthagowda Patil.
He said that he had held talks with CM BS Yediyurappa, who had promised him that he would be appointed as head of a Board or an Authority. “I paid respect to BSY and remained silent. But now I am being told to work for the victory of Patil. I do not agree with this and hence I refused to do any campaigning in Patil’s favour,” he said calling his association with the BJP as a ‘closed chapter’.
