Ayanur Manjunath, the Janata Dal (Secular) candidate from Shivamogga central constituency for the upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections, said on Thursday that his first preference for contesting the elections was the Bharatiya Janata Party, followed by the Congress and the JD(S). Manjunath, a former BJP MLC and a prominent Lingayat face, resigned from the party on Thursday over the denial of the ticket from the Shivamogga constituency and joined the JD(S). With this, he became the 10th legislator to quit the saffron party ahead of the Assembly polls in the state. The BJP has fielded Channabasappa, considered close to KS Eshwarappa, from the seat. “My options were open. My first preference was BJP, second was anybody. It may be Congress or JD(S). My third preference was Independent if nobody was prepared to announce my name. That was my stand, I declared in public. JD (S) leader HD Kumaraswamy said that he will give me a chance, and he will support my thinking, so I joined the party,” he said.
When asked about the reason for the denial of the ticket from the BJP, Manjunath said that he was given various chances by the party in the past which may have pushed them to think of a new candidate for the seat. Manjunath represented Karnataka in the Rajya Sabha between 2010 and 2016. He also served in the 12th Lok Sabha.
The deadline for filing nominations is today, and the deadline for withdrawing nominations is April 24.
Karnataka Assembly elections will be held on May 10, with results announced on May 13.