Mangalore: The former BJP Minister B. Nagaraja Shetty joined the Janata Dal (Secular) at a function held at the Town Hall on Monday. Mr. Shetty recently resigned as Chairman of the Coastal Area Development Authority.

Supporters gathered in large numbers at the Town Hall to see Mr. Shetty and a few other BJP and Congress activists joining the JD(S). The attention was all on Mr. Shetty, who came to the venue with his supporters in as many as five buses.

Welcoming Mr. Shetty to the party, Mr. Kumaraswamy said many more leaders from the BJP and the Congress were likely to join the JD (S). Mr. Kumaraswamy said there has been disenchantment among electorate over the anti-people policies of Congress-led UPA Government at the Centre and of the BJP Government in the State.

-There were more chances for the Janata Dal (Secular) to come back to power. The BJP will bite the dust in the upcoming elections,- he said.

Asking the electorate from Dakshina Kannada to vote in favour of his party, Mr. Kumaraswamy said the BJP and the Congress had exploited religious sentiments of the people. If the electorate supported the Janata Dal (S), the party would strive for implementation of people-oriented policies.

The former Ministers K. Amarnath Shetty and Zameer Ahmed Khan, President of State Yuva Janata Dal (Secular) K. Amarnath Shetty and Janata Dal (S) Dakshina Kannada Unit president M.B. Sadashiva also spoke.