After joining the Congress, former Karnataka chief minister Jagadish Shettar has blamed BJP leader BL Santosh for denying a ticket to him in the upcoming assembly elections.
Shettar, expecting to contest from the Hubli-Dharwad Central constituency, said that Santosh had influenced the party’s high command to drop him from the list of candidates.
“Santosh is responsible for my denial of the ticket. He has some personal grudge against me and misused his position to sabotage my political career,” Shettar said in a press conference. He also claimed that Santosh had threatened him with dire consequences if he did not withdraw his nomination. Shettar said that he would not bow down to such pressure tactics and would continue to serve the people of his constituency.
The background
Jagadish Shettar is a veteran leader of the BJP in Karnataka and has been representing the Hubli-Dharwad Central constituency since 1994. He served as the Chief Minister of Karnataka for a brief period in 2012-13, after he rebelled against his predecessor B.S. Yeddyurappa. He was also the Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly from 2013 to 2018.
Shettar was widely expected to get the BJP ticket for the 2023 Assembly election, as he had won the seat by a margin of over 20,000 votes in 2018. However, he was shocked when the BJP announced Mahesh Tenginkai as its candidate for Hubli-Dharwad Central on May 10, just four days before the last date of filing nominations.
The role of Santosh
According to sources, Santosh, who is considered Amit Shah’s right-hand man and is in charge of Karnataka affairs for the BJP, was instrumental in dropping Shettar from the list of candidates. Santosh reportedly wanted to bring in new faces and young leaders in the BJP and felt that Shettar had become too old and ineffective.
Santosh also had a personal grudge against Shettar, as he had opposed Santosh’s appointment as the BJP general secretary (organisation) in Karnataka in 2016. Santosh had faced allegations of corruption and nepotism during his tenure as the RSS pracharak in Karnataka, and Shettar had raised his voice against him.
Santosh used his influence over Amit Shah and convinced him to replace Shettar with Mahesh Tenginkai, a businessman and first-time contestant. Santosh also managed to sideline other senior leaders of the BJP in Karnataka, such as B.S. Yeddyurappa, K.S. Eshwarappa and R. Ashoka, who were in favor of retaining Shettar.
The aftermath
The denial of the ticket to Shettar triggered a massive backlash from his supporters and loyalists. Shettar announced his resignation from the BJP on April 17 and joined the Congress party on April 18.
The Congress welcomed Shettar with open arms and gave him the ticket to contest from Hubli-Dharwad Central against Tenginkai. The Congress hopes that Shettar’s popularity and experience will help them win the seat, which they have not won since 1989. The Congress also hopes that Shettar’s defection will dent the BJP’s vote bank in the Hubli-Dharwad region, which is considered its stronghold.
It remains to be seen how this will affect the outcome of the Assembly election on May 23.
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