New Delhi:
Ex- Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar re-joined the BJP Thursday, less than a year after he walked out of the party, claiming “ill treatment”, and joined the Congress. The switch also took place days before the 2023 Karnataka Assembly election, which he contested and lost – to a BJP candidate.
Mr Shettar’s ghar wapsi today – signed off by Union Home Minister Amit Shah – took place at the party’s HQ in Delhi in the presence of its Karnataka unit boss, BY Vijayendra, and his father, former Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa. “I am rejoining with the belief Narendra Modiji has to become PM again,” he declared.
Mr Shettar claimed “some issues” had led to his quitting the BJP and joining the Congress, and said, “In the last eight or nine months there were a lot of discussions. BJP workers asked me to come back…Yediyurappaji and Vijayendraji also wanted me to come back… so I am rejoining.”
Jagadish Shettar joined the Congress after he was denied a ticket to fight in last year’s Karnataka state election. The 68-year-old was overlooked as part of the anti-incumbency strategy of the BJP, which was then in power in the southern state. The strategy didn’t work – the Congress recorded a thumping win.
Mr Shettar, though, was not among the winners on the day. He was fielded from the Hubli-Dharwad (Central) seat but was defeated by the BJP’s Mahesh Tenginaka, who won by over 34,000 votes.
The seat was one Mr Shettar claimed in three successive Assembly elections between 2008 and 2018.
He blamed his loss on “money power and pressure tactics” and accused his BJP rival of “distributing Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 (notes)” to voters. “In the last six elections I have not at all used money power… never distributed money to voters. (This is the) first time a BJP candidate has distributed Rs 500 – Rs 1000…”
After his switch Mr Yediyurappa had said Mr Shettar had “made a mistake”. “We promised him Rajya Sabha membership and (said) we would make him Union Minister. Amit Shah himself spoke to him. I think he made a mistake leaving… we wholeheartedly supported him almost every time,” he told NDTV.
