Bengaluru: Congress President Rahul Gandhi will visit Bengaluru on April 4 to discuss and finalise candidates for the upcoming Assembly polls in Karnataka.

According to party sources, Mr Rahul had an in-camera meeting with the block presidents of Hassan and Chikkamagaluru, and senior leaders of Mysuru and Chamarajanagar to know the party preparedness for the Assembly elections.



The meeting did not go long as Mr Rahul had to rush to Hassan to pay his respects to Belur MLA Rudreshgowda who died on Saturday. However, the Congress president exhorted block presidents to work as a team in their respective constituencies to ensure the victory of Congress candidates.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, KPCC President Dr G Parameshwar, working presidents Dinesh Gundu Rao and Mr SR Patil, Congress Floor leader in the Lok Sabha M Mallikarjun Kharge and others participated in the meeting.

Wait over, 7 JD(S) rebels join Congress

In a blow to the JD(S) headed by Deve Gowda, seven former rebel MLAs joined the ruling Congress in the presence of party president Rahul Gandhi. The rebel MLAs had resigned from the Karnataka legislative assembly on Saturday, a day after they cross voted in favour of the Congress candidates in the March 23 Rajya Sabha biennial election in the state. Zameer Ahmed Khan, Cheluvaraya Swamy, Iqbal Ansari, Balakrishna, Ramesh Bandisiddegowda, Bheema Nayak and Akhanda Srinivas Murthy were welcomed into the party fold by Gandhi at a public rally in Mysuru.

Along with them, former JDS MLCs MC Nanaiah, Sarovar Srinivas and B Ramakrishna also joined the Congress.

The votes cast by seven JD(S) rebel MLAs in the Rajya Sabha biennial election and also support of independents had helped the Congress win the third seat as a bonus, though it had the strength only to bag two seats for sure. Despite the shortfall in its strength, JDS had fielded its candidate, but boycotted the poll midway alleging electoral malpractice by the Congress.