Assembly polls: Speculations rife on A.R. Krishnamurthy joining Congress

ARK, son of former Minister and late Dalit leader B. Rachaiah, has been out of power ever since he lost the Assembly poll to R. Dhruvanarayan by a single vote over 10 years ago Chamarajanagar, Dec.28  (Siddalingaswamy)- Speculations on whether former MLA and BJP leader A.R. Krishnamurthy will remain in the party or cross over to the Congress, has gained ground in Chamarajanagar district. Krishnamurthy, who was elected from erstwhile Santemarahalli constituency two times, has stayed away from BJP’s activities for the past couple of months, thus giving rise to speculations that he may crossover to the Congress before the 2018 Assembly polls. However, ARK, as he is popularly known, has himself not spoken anything about his future political plans. Krishnamurthy, the son of former Minister and highly-respected late Dalit leader B. Rachaiah, has been out of power ever since he lost the Assembly poll to R. Dhruvanarayan by a single vote over 10 years ago. However, Chief Minister Siddharamaiah is keen on admitting the son of his mentor B. Rachaiah, to the Congress. The CM is said to have spoken to Congress MLAs from the district, R. Narendra and Puttarangashetty, seeking their opinion on admitting ARK to the Congress. Even ARK’s mother Gowramma B. Rachaiah is said to have spoken to Siddharamaiah on taking her son to the Congress fold. However, ARK’s admission to the Congress has hit a roadblock, as sitting Kollegal Congress MLA S. Jayanna has strongly opposed  ARK’s entry to the Congress, as it may hurt his (Jayanna)                                          prospects of getting the party ticket again to contest from Kollegal.