Mangalore : Former Coastal Development Authority chairman Nagaraj Shetty along with hundreds of his supporters including Basheer Baikampady, Ranjith Malli, Annaiah Sherigar and  Srikanth Shetty joined the Janata Dal(S) in the presence of the Partys state President and former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy during the District JD(S) convention held at Town Hall in Mangalore on September 24, Monday.

Earlier, inaugurating the convention, Kumaraswamy  said the people of the state were disillusioned with the BJP government and predicted that the BJP would bite the dust in the next elections. Launching a tirade on the Union government too, he said the economic policies of the UPA government were unacceptable to the common man who is reeling under problems due to soaring prices of essential commodities. He also said the  policies of the Centre were more in favour of the industrialists and capitalists rather than the common man.

In his address, Nagaraj Shetty said it was  the most special day of his life and made it clear that he joined the JD(S) not out of any selfish motive, but to serve the society. He said he aims to see Kumaraswamy as the next chief minister of the state and vowed that he would strengthen the party by touring rural areas during the next one year period.

Madhu Bangarappa, State Yuva Janata Dal (S) President,  Jameer Ahmed,  and several others spoke on the occasion.

Udupi District JD(S) President Deviprasad Shetty, DK District President MB Sadashiva, Amarnath Shetty, UR Sabhapathi, MG Hegde, Bhojegowda, Shakeel Nawaz and D M Aslam Zafrulla Khan, Jyothi Reddy, MB Sadashiva other party leaders were present.