Bengaluru: Former minister for revenue V Srinivas Prasad, who is considered as an archrival to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in Mysore district, on Monday officially joined Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).  BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa, Union Ministers Ananth Kumar, D V Sadananda Gowda, Leader of Opposition in Legislative Assembly Jagadish Shettar and other BJP leaders welcomed Srinivas Prasad into the party at a function held at BJP office at Malleshwaram.
According to political analysts, with the joining of Srinivas Prasad, who happened to be a Union Minister in Atal Behari Vajpayee government, BJP would gain immensely in Mysuru and Chamarajanagar districts. It may be recalled that Srinivas Prasad, who was minister for revenue, was dropped from the Cabinet along with 13 other ministers during the Cabinet reshuffle that took place in June. Miffed over this move, Srinivas Prasad had resigned as an MLA from Congress in October accusing Siddaramaiah of betraying him.

The forthcoming by-poll would be a prestigious test personally for Chief Minister Siddaramaiah as Nanjangud is in his home district of Mysuru. JD(S), which had invited Prasad to join it, had even expressed support if he contests the by-election from Nanjangud as an independent candidate.

Prasad, a Dalit, will be BJP’s candidate for the by-poll to Nanjangud assembly constituency, which fell vacant following his resignation.

It may be recalled that Prasad launched a scathing attack on the chief minister at Swabhimana Samavesha in Nanjangud in November. He compared Siddaramaiah with the 14th century Delhi sultan, Mohammad-Bin-Tughluq, and said that he would remain as the most arrogant leader the state has ever seen.

On December 24, BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa called on Srinivas Prasad at his residence and extended an invitation to him to join BJP.