Bengaluru: Kalaburugi strong man, former MLA and former health minister of the state, A B Malaka Reddy joined the BJP recently. His exit came as a big shock to Mallikarjuna Kharge, a senior Congress leader who is seeking a re-election from the Kalaburugi constituency.

According to sources in the BJP, the sulking Reddy met with the party’s state president, B S Yeddyurappa at his residence in Bengaluru. “It (the meeting) lasted for over 15 minutes. Both the leaders discussed about the BJP’s strategy for the Kalaburugi constituency in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections,” said a BJP leader.

It can be recalled that another leader of the region, former minister Vaijanath Patil, recently quit the Congress after accusing Kharge of high handedness in the party’s decisions.