Jagadish Shettar, ex-Karnataka CM re-joins BJP, shudder for Congress
Jagadish Shettar, ex-Karnataka CM re-joins BJP, shudder for Congress
Former Karnataka CM Jagadish Shettar, who last year joined the Congress returned to BJP on Thursday, ahead of the Karnataka assembly election.
In April last, Shettar, who belongs to the politically influential Lingayat community, had ditched the BJP when he was denied a ticket.
Subsequently
However, he lost to BJP’s Mahesh Tenginakai by a huge margin.
Subsequently, 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 asserted that he returned to the party again with the belief that PM Modi should be elected the PM once again.
Shettar quoted that the party gave him a lot of responsibilities in the past.
Due to some issues, he went to the Congress party.
In the last eight to nine months, lot of discussions followed.
BJP workers asked him to return to the BJP.
He even added that Yediyurappa and Vijayendra wanted him to come back to the BJP and he is rejoining the party with the belief that Narendra Modi has to become the PM once again.
With Shettar’s return to the BJP, this was a fresh shudder 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.
After joining the BJP, Shettar met with party president JP Nadda in the national capital.
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.
He has 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.
News Edit K.V.Raman
