‘Gives us strength’: Yediyurappa on Jagadish Shettar rejoining BJP after 9 mnths
Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar said he was disappointed that Jagadish Shettar did not come clean on his plans when he asked him about the swirling rumours
BENGALURU: Former Karnataka chief minister and Lingayat leader Jagadish Shettar, 68, rejoined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday, nine months after he exited the party in April after being denied a ticket to contest the 2023 assembly elections and joined the Congress.
Shettar formally joined the BJP at the party headquarters in Delhi in the presence of former chief minister BS Yediyurappa and his son, Karnataka BJP president BY Vijayendra. Shettar told reporters that the Congress treated him with respect but he was returning to the BJP because of multiple reasons.
“The BJP gave me a lot of responsibilities in the past. Due to some issues, I went to the Congress. In the last nine months, there have been a lot of discussions. Also, BJP workers asked me to come back to the party. Yediyurappaji and Vijayendraji also 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 again,” Shettar said.
Yediyurappa said Shettar’s return to the BJP will strengthen the party. “There was a demand from the party workers that Jagadish Shettar should be brought back to the party. So, on Thursday morning, Shettar, Vijayendra and I had met with Amit Shah,” said former chief minister BS Yediyurappa. “He (Shah) happily welcomed him to the party and Shettar has joined the BJP. Ahead of the Lok Sabha election, it gives us strength,” he added.
Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar said he was disappointed that Shettar did not come clean on his plan when he asked him about the swirling rumours this week, “I spoke to him on Wednesday morning as well. He told me he would not leave and that the Congress party had given him a second chance in politics. Keeping that in mind, I had given a statement to the same effect in Mysuru. We had given the respect due to a senior leader and he said that the BJP was not good for him. We trusted him, but it has come to light that he has broken that trust,” the Congress leader said.
“We treated him with all the respect he deserved. He had other intentions and I do not know what Amit Shah offered him. Let him find his way as people watch everything,” Shivakumar said, adding that Shettar was yet to formally resign from the Congress. “He said he would send the resignation letter by mail. So far he has not given his resignation to me. As the KPCC chief, I can confirm that,” he added.
Asked about the development, chief minister Siddaramaiah recalled that Shettar left the BJP complaining of humiliation and that the Congress accomodated him despite losing his seat. “Shettar quit the BJP citing disrespect to his leadership and for being denied the party ticket in the last Assembly elections. He joined the Congress. A ticket was given to him to contest the polls from Hubbali, but he lost the election. Nevertheless, the party made him an MLC. No injustice was done to Shettar in the Congress. He was treated respectfully in the Congress,” Siddaramaiah said.
Jagadish Shettar, a six-term legislator from Hubli, contested the assembly elections from his Hubli-Central Dharwad constituency but lost by a huge margin to BJP’s Mahesh Tenginkai. Shettar was accommodated as a member of the legislative council in June last year.
