Malikayya Guttedar, a former minister and Karnataka BJP leader, has joined the Congress

On Friday, in the presence of state minister Priyank Kharge, chief minister Siddaramaiah, deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar, and Karnataka BJP leader Malikayya Guttedar, the former minister joined the Congress party.

Malikayya Guttedar served as the Kalaburagi district’s MLA for six terms, representing the Afzalpur assembly seat.

According to reports, Guttedar is not happy about his brother Nithin Guttedar being accepted into the BJP.

In the 2023 assembly elections, he came in third place, behind only Nithin Guttedar, the independent candidate.

CM Siddaramaiah welcomed Malikayya Guttedar into the party and said that his arrival would boost the Congress party across Karnataka, not only in Kalaburagi.

“Malikayya Guttedar and I are close.” He joined the BJP because of various problems, but because he is a fervent supporter of social justice, I felt he couldn’t be there. His arrival would strengthen the Congress in all of Karnataka, not only in Kalaburagi, according to Siddaramaiah.

Following his brother’s entrance, 67-year-old Malikayya Guttedar has been criticizing BJP veteran and former Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, as well as his son BY Vijayendra, the state president of the party.

Mallikarjun Kharge, the president of the Congress party, was born and raised in Kalaburagi. He was elected to the Lok Sabha in 2009 and 2014 but lost the 2019 election.

On April 26 and May 7, the 28 seats in Karnataka will be up for election in the second and third rounds.

The BJP won a record 25 seats in the 2019 elections, handily defeating the Congress and JD-S combination.