Mysuru, Oct 23 (IANS): Karnataka BJP MLC H. Vishwanath termed senior leader C. P. Yogeshwara fraud after the latter ditched the party and joined the Congress on Wednesday.

Talking to reporters in Mysuru, Vishwanath said: "Yogeshwara is a fraud. All parties, BJP, Congress and JD(S) are inviting him. Is he being invited to be a big leader?"

Hitting out at Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, he said: "Why are you destroying the Congress party? The Congress government is already mired in the MUDA and Valmiki Tribal Welfare Board scams. Amid all this, now you have taken a fraud into the party."

Meanwhile, Karnataka Legislative Council Member and senior BJP leader C.T. Ravi said by inducting Yogeshwara into their party, the Congress has essentially admitted that they are "weak" in the Channapatna Assembly segment.

On Siddaramaiah's claim that he does not own a house, Vishwanath said that the Congress leader has a pub in the name of his son and daughter-in-law in Bengaluru.

"If Siddaramaiah's confidant State Urban Development Minister Bhyrathi Suresh, whose constituency houses the said pub, was put behind bars, everything will come to the fore," he said.

"I have identified with all three major parties in Karnataka. However, I have not compromised with my principles and ethics. I might have changed the 'jhanda' but not the 'agenda'. Recently, party-based politics is taking a backseat and leader-oriented politics is gaining prominence. CM Siddaramaiah is destroying the Congress party," he claimed.

Earlier, referring to charges in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA), Siddaramaiah claimed that his house was under construction for many years.

"Many districts in the state were reeling under floods due to heavy rain. The people are not able to come out of their houses. Under such circumstances, Dy CM D. K. Shivakumar was behaving as if he was not concerned with the developments. The district ministers also are not bothered," he said, criticising the state government.