Mangaluru:  Shashiraj Shetty Kolambe along with his supporters joined the Bharathiya Janata Party (BJP) in the presence of Uttar Pradesh rural development minister Mahendra Singh and MP Nalin Kumar Kateel here at BJP office on Thursday, May 3rd.

Addressing the gathering Kolambe said, “This is my golden opportunity to serve BJP under the guidance of MP Nalin Kumar Kateel. From the past several years, I have served Congress and my family members too have been loyal to the party. Congress has failed in their administration and it has also misused power. Congress failed to redress Yettinahole issue and that compelled me to leave Congress. District BJP led by MP Nalin Kumar Kateel stood against the project for the well being of people,”

“Senior leader Vijay Kumar Shetty too was sidelined by the Congress, but he has still stayed with them. But I decided to come out from the party and joined BJP. After 40 years of rendering service to Congress party, Harikrishna Bantwal did not get any respected position in the party and was sidelined. We have to make our district Congress-free. Once BJP comes to power, we will discuss the boon and bane of Yettinahole project and reevaluate it,” he added.

MP Nalin Kumar Kateel said, “There is a demand for change in the district. Several unsatisfied Congress leaders are joining BJP. Congress even refused to give respected position to Harikrishna Bantwal. Bantwal area is dominated by Ramanath Rai and he does not want others to come up in his constituency. Congress is projecting BJP as a devil in the minds of minorities. In Bantwal, Ramanath Rai never gave up his seat for any minorities. Even when I visited Ullal, 60% of minorities were against Congress stating that they have used them just for the sake of vote bank and have shown no concern about the development and safety of minorities.”