BJP Says 16 of 17 disqualified Karnataka MLAs to Join Party

A day after the Supreme Court permitted the disqualified Congress and JD(S) MLAs to contest the impending Karnataka bypolls on December 5, the Bharatiya Janata Party has released an official statement mentioning that 16 out of 17 disqualified MLAs in the state are all set to join the ruling BJP on Thursday, which excludes the name of Roshan Baig.

On Wednesday, sources shared that the BJP is open to the prospect of fielding all 17 disqualified Karnataka MLAs for the upcoming by-polls in the state.

The top leadership, including BJP chief Amit Shah and working president JP Nadda, have given their go-ahead for fielding the disqualified MLAs from their erstwhile seats, sources said. The decision was reportedly taken at a high-level meeting held today, in which senior state leaders were also present.

The by-polls in the state will be held on 15 out of the 17 seats on December 5.

According to sources, Roshan Baig's name could not be included in BJP till he gets a clean chit in IMA Ponzi scam.

In the Karnataka elections, BJP had emerged as the largest party with 105 seats but failed to secure a majority in the 225-members assembly. The party is expecting that the by-polls on the 15 seats will boost their tally in the state.

The 14-month old Congress-JD(S) coalition government, led by Kumaraswamy collapsed in July this year following a series of resignations from MLAs paving way for the BJP which was the single largest party to form the government in Karnataka.