Ashok Kheny hops over to Congress, partymen oppose move

BENGALURU: At a time when a Karnataka legislature house committee report on alleged irregularities pertaining to the NICE corridor has been placed before the government for consideration,

Bidar South MLA

, Ashok Kheny, on Monday joined the Congress. His induction came amidst stiff opposition from within the Congress party.

Kheny

also merged his five-year-old Kannada Makkala Paksha (KMP) with the Congress.

Kheny is a promoter of NICE, which is constructing the controversial BMIC corridor project between Bengaluru and Mysuru. He has been accused of acquiring more land than what was agreed in the framework agreement between NICE and the state government.

KPCC president G Parameshwara and the party’s campaign committee chairman D K Shivakumar welcomed Kheny into the party. “Kheny’s entry will help Congress in all the six constituencies in Bidar district,” Parameshwara said.

Chief minister Siddaramaiah had claimed in Mysuru that there was no opposition to Kheny’s entry into the party, but his close confidant, MLA S T Somashekar, protested the decision. In Bidar, late former CM N Dharam Singh son-in-law Chandra Singh, who was an aspirant, for the ticket, has also voiced his opposition.

Kheny said he joined the Congress after seeing the good work of Siddaramaiah.

Meanwhile, the BJP took exception to Congress inducting Kheny. “The timing of Kheny’s entry into Congress, especially when the house committee report has reportedly recommended taking back surplus land acquired from NICE, raises questions,” said senior BJP leader S Suresh Kumar. “The Congress will have to pay a heavy price in the election for welcoming Kheny.”

Parameshwara said that Congress will not do anything against the law as far as the NICE controversy is concerned while D K Shivakumar said the law will take its own course with regard to controversy surrounding NICE project.