Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], Nov 14 (ANI): Former BJP MLA Raju Kage on Thursday joined the Congress in the presence of party leaders Siddaramaiah and Dinesh Gundu Rao, a day after the Supreme Court upheld the disqualification of 17 rebel Karnataka legislators.Speaking to reporters, Siddaramaiah said, "All the three from Belgaum -- Srimanth Patil, Mahesh Kumtalli and Ramesh Jarakiholi are disqualified. They won from our party and left us. They have to face the election with the disqualified tag. Raju Kage has joined us and it will boost our strength in Belagavi. We welcome him."Kage is a four-time legislator from Kagwad in Belagavi district. In the 2018 assembly elections, Kage had lost this seat to Patil, who had contested the polls on a Congress ticket.The development comes after 15 out of 17 disqualified rebel MLAs, including those from Congress and JD(S) joined the BJP in the presence of Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa. Out of the 17 disqualified MLAs, MTB Nagaraj is already a member of the BJP, while Roshan Baig has been left out.The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the decision of the then Karnataka speaker K R Ramesh Kumar to disqualify the 17 rebel Congress-JD(S) MLAs under the anti-defection law but said that they can contest the upcoming by-elections in the state.The top court has allowed 17 disqualified rebel MLAs to contest in the upcoming by-polls which are slated to be held on December 5.The rebel legislators were disqualified by the then speaker K R Ramesh Kumar in July earlier this year under the anti-defection law after they tendered their resignation. They were also barred from contesting polls for the duration of the current assembly, which is slated to end in 2023.The by-elections for 15 out of 17 seats are slated to be held on December 5. Results will be declared on December 9. (ANI)

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