Jagadish Shettar alleged that “a few leaders are controlling the BJP in Karnataka for their own self-interest.”
(Photo Credit: PTI)
Jagadish Shettar, former chief minister of Karnataka and a well-known Lingayat politician joined the Congress party on Monday morning in Bengaluru. He joined the Congress today at the Bengaluru party office in the presence of the party president Mallikarjun Kharge, the KPCC president DK Shivakumar, and Congress leaders Randeep Surjewala and Siddaramaiah.
After being refused a ticket to run in the elections, Shettar received an invitation to join the Congress on Sunday. Following his meeting with Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, the six-term MLA announced his resignation from the BJP. Union Ministers Pralhad Joshi and Dharmendra Pradhan were unable to stop him.
Meanwhile, Jagadish Shettar has attacked the BJP, alleging that it has mistreated and humiliated him. He said, “The BJP leaders insulted and mistreated me. It is upsetting that a few state leaders are misusing the BJP system”.
The AICC president, Mallikarjun Kharge, while addressing the media said: “Today, Congress is assured of winning 150 seats after Jagadish Shettar joined the party as what Rahul Gandhi requested us at Kolar yesterday.” Welcoming Shettar, Siddaramaiah, the former Karnataka CM and Leader of the Opposition (LoP), calls Jagadish Shettar, “a decent politician in Karnataka.”
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( Siddaramaiah, Photo credit: The Week)
Jagadish Shettar after joining the Congress party, said, “When I am forced out of a house I helped build, there is no alternative left for me. We created the BJP with the idea that the party, not the people, matters. Currently, a small number of people are in charge of the entire party,” he added.
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The six-term MLA did, however, make it clear that he is not criticizing JP Nadda, Amit Shah, or Prime Minister Narendra Modi of the Union by stating that they might not be aware of changes in the state unit.
(From left- JP Nadda, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, Photo credit: PTI)
He also said that in each of his six elections for MLA, he had won by 20 to 25,000 votes. “I’ve been moving throughout the district for the past two years. I anticipated being fielded normally for a seventh time. I’m disappointed in how the party treated me as a senior leader, Shettar continued.
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Bommai, the chief minister of Karnataka, suggested that his leaving the party may have an effect. As a prominent leader, Jagadish Shettar’s departure from the party will have an effect. By promising a major job in New Delhi and an assembly ticket to a member of his family, we attempted to appease him. Shettar, however, was adamant about getting his assembly ticket, and he refused to accept our demands. His influence in the Hubballi-Dharwad area would be reduced by us.
(Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai , Photo credit: The Daily Guardian)
Since 1994, Mr. Shettar has won six elections in the state. The BJP refused to give him a ticket to run in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly elections on May 10. Following that decision, he decided to quit the party. He would be running in elections for Congress for the first time.
BJP’s Critisism on Jagadish Shettar
However, the BJP criticized Shettar’s decision to quit the party. Union Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers, New and Renewable Energy Bhagwanth Khuba, said that former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar’s resignation from the BJP is a prime example of selfish and opportunistic politics. He has betrayed the party and the thousands of workers who selflessly serve it.
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