Jagadish Shettar, ex-Karnataka Chief Minister, re-joins BJP, jolt for Congress

mangaloretoday.com

Bengaluru, Jan 25, 2024: Former Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar, who joined the Congress last year before the Karnataka assembly election, returned to the BJP on Thursday.

 

Shettar, who belongs to the politically influential Lingayat community, had ditched the BJP in April last year when he was denied a ticket. He subsequently joined the Congress, who promptly handed him a ticket to contest from the Hubli-Dharwad Central assembly constituency, a seat he represented when he was in the BJP.

However, he lost to BJP’s Mahesh Tenginakai by a huge margin.

The 67-year-old leader today joined the BJP in the presence of former Karnataka Chief Minister and senior party leader BS Yediyurappa, his son and state party chief BY Vijayendra. The development came ahead of this year’s Lok Sabha election.

On re-joining the BJP, Shettar said he came back to the party again with the belief that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should be elected the Prime Minister again.

"The party gave me a lot of responsibilities in the past. Due to some issues, I went to the Congress party. In the last eight to nine months, there were a lot of discussions. BJP workers asked me to come back to the BJP," he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

"Even Yediyurappa Ji and Vijayendra Ji wanted me to come back to the BJP. I am rejoining the party with the belief that Narendra Modi ji has to become the Prime Minister once again," he said.

With Shettar’s return to the BJP, this was a fresh jolt for the Congress, which is already reeling from the twin blows of the Opposition INDIA bloc’s allies, TMC and AAP, deciding to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls alone. Both parties made the call due to issues in the seat-sharing talks.

Shettar, a six-time MLA, served as the Karnataka Chief Minister for 10 months between 2012 and 2013. He began his political career in the 1980s and held various positions within the BJP, including state president and leader of the opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly.

The 67-year-old Lingayat strongman held various ministerial positions in the Karnataka government, including the portfolio of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj.

He was also the Speaker of the Karnataka assembly when the BJP first won the state in 2008.

Courtesy: India Today