Bengaluru: Geetha Shivarajkumar, wife of popular Kannada actor Shivarajkumar, joined the Congress at the KPCC Office here on Friday. She was given the Congress flag by KPCC President D.K. Shivakumar.

Geetha, who is the daughter of former Karnataka Chief Minister late S. Bangarappa, is also the eldest daughter-in-law of thespian Dr. Rajkumar.

Geetha had contested the 2014 Lok Sabha polls from Shivamogga Constituency on a JD(S) ticket. But she lost the polls and had stayed away from active politics since then. Now she has joined the Congress and will campaign for her younger  brother Madhu Bangarappa who is contesting on a Congress ticket from Soraba segment in Shivamogga district.

Interestingly, Geetha’s another brother Kumar Bangarappa, a sitting MLA,  is contesting on a BJP ticket from Soraba, which has now turned out into a political battle between brothers.

Other notable leaders who joined the Congress on Friday included B.B. Ningaiah of Mudigere, who quit the JD(S); JD(S) State Minority wing chief Shamsulla Khan and AAP State Unit Secretary Sohail Dilvaji. 

Ningaiah, who was the declared JD(S) candidate from Mudigere in Chikkamagalur district, was replaced at the last minute by M.P.Kumaraswamy, who defected from the BJP to the JD(S) after being denied the BJP ticket.