Amit Shah to discuss B’luru seats with K’taka BJP core committee on Thursday

BENGALURU: Union Home Minister Amit Shah has called for a core committee meeting of the state BJP unit on Thursday (February 23) evening when he arrives in the city. It is widely believed that the meeting will focus on strategies for the Assembly constituencies in Bengaluru.

Bengaluru has 28 Assembly segments and, in the 2018 election, the BJP had fared quite badly and secured lesser number of seats than the Congress. However, after Operation Lotus, it managed to bolster its strength. After the election, the Congress had bagged 15 seats in Bengaluru, BJP 11 and the JD(S) had two. After some legislators switched sides, the Congress strength came down to 12 and the JD(S) was reduced to one, while the BJP improved its count to 15.

Utilising this factor, the party high command has drafted a plan to win at least 18 seats in Bengaluru as the Congress is left with no strong contenders, party sources pointed out. Amit Shah will meet the core committee members and discuss strategies to win at least 18 seats by making use of those who switched over from the Congress, they said.

Ananth Nag to join BJP

Veteran actor Anant Nag is all set to leave the JD(S) and join the BJP on Wednesday along with some other influential personalities. Along with him, some JD(S) and Congress workers from Nelamangala are expected to the party.

Anant Nag had identified himself with the erstwhile Janata Dal right from 1983 and was star campaigner during 1983, 1985 and 1988 elections. He was elected from Malleswaram constituency in 1994 and was Bangalore Development Minister in the J H Patel Cabinet. He had also contested the 1983 Lok Sabha polls.