Former leader of the Janata Dal-Secular M P Prakash will officially be a Congressman on February 27. He will be formally inducted into the party at a Youth Congress rally to be held in Bangalore, which will be presided over by Rahul Gandhi [Images].

Prakash will officially join the Congress along with 12 of his supporters.

The Congress has assured Prakash of a ticket to contest the forthcoming polls, but it is unlikely that all his other supporters would be assured of the same treatment.

The Congress say that it would first test the strength of the supporters before handing out tickets to them.

The Congress hopes that Prakash will help strengthen the party. He is likely to be offered the post of Chairman of the Congress Manisfesto Committee. Prakash's main job would, however, be to dish out the votes in the Lingayat community.

The decision to join the Congress came after much delay.

Prakash had almost struck a deal with the Bharatiya Janata Party and was all set to join the party.

However, due to differences with party members, Prakash opted out.

The BJP had hoped that Prakash along with B S Yeddyurappa would have sealed the Lingayat votes in the state.