Denied a ticket from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the upcoming Assembly elections, former Karnataka chief minister Jagadish Shettar joined Congress on Monday in the presence of party president Mallikarjun Kharge, KPCC president DK Shivakumar and Congress leaders Randeep Surjewala, Siddaramaiah at the party office in Bengaluru.
‘Built Karnataka BJP but felt humiliated’
“I built Karnataka BJP but got ill-treated. Senior leaders like me are not treated well by the BJP in Karnataka. I always won with a record margin for BJP and performed well at every post. But I can’t hurt my self-respect anymore,” Shettar said after joining Congress.
Shettar targeted BJP over ticket snub, senior leaders like me ill-treated
After joining the Congress, Jagadish Shettar targeted the BJP and said that senior leaders ill-treated him. He also attacked the Saffron party over ticket snub. “I will win Hubbali-Dharwad for 7th time. Always won with record margin for BJP and performed well at every post,” Shettar added.
“I am wholeheartedly joining Congress. I was contacted by Congress leaders including DK Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah, Randeep Surjewala and MB Patil. When they invited me, I came without any second thought,” Jagadish Shettar said after joining Congress.
Jagadish Shettar added, “Yesterday I left BJP and today I joined the Congress party. Many are surprised as an opposition leader, former CM and party president is joining Congress. BJP has given me every position and being a party worker I always worked for the party’s growth.”
The former CM arrived at Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee office this morning. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge will hold a press conference soon.
Karnataka State Congress in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala, Leader of Opposition in Karnataka state assembly Siddaramaiah, and Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar met former Karnataka CM Jagadish Shettar in Bengaluru after he resigned from BJP on Sunday, news agency ANI reported.
Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar said Shettar will not be presented with any demands.
“There will be no demands from Jagadish Shettar, we don’t offer anything. He (Jagadish Shettar) will have to agree with the principles and the leadership of the party. We want to keep the country united and only Congress can do that,” Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar said.
After resigning from the post of MLA and from the BJP’s principal membership, Jagadish Shettar took to Twitter and said, “Fed up with the political events of the past few days, I have resigned from my MLA seat and will discuss my next move with the activists. As usual, I believe that your love and blessings will always be with me”.
Politics is intensifying in poll-bound Karnataka with major political parties hurrying up to finalise their contenders. On Saturday, Congress released its third list of 43 candidates, but Siddaramaiah still did not get the ticket for the Kolar seat. Also, disgruntled BJP MLAs continued leaving the party.
The Karnataka assembly elections will be held in a single phase on May 10, with the counting of votes scheduled on May 13.
