Karnataka regional party MLA joins Congress

Bengaluru : A legislator from Bidar in north Karnataka, Ashok Kheny, on Monday joined the Congress party, a senior party official said.

"On behalf of the members of the Congress party, I welcome Ashok Kheny on his joining the party," Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief G. Parameshwara said. 

Kheny, 67, had contested and won from the Bidar South Assembly segment in 2013 polls as a Karnataka Makkala Paksha (KMP) candidate.

He is also the Managing Director of Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises (NICE), which had taken up the construction of Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC). 

With Kheny joining, the Congress strength in the 224-member state assembly has gone up to 124, ahead of the assembly elections due in April-May.