Ex-CM Jagadish Shettar, two others, take oath as Congress MLCs in K’taka

Bengaluru: Former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar took oath as a Congress MLC at the Vidhana Soudha here on Monday.

Along with him, Minister for Minor Irrigation and Water Resources N.S. Boseraju and senior leader Tippannappa Kamakanur also took oath as the council members in the presence of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

All three were elected to the Legislative Council as the BJP did not field any candidate.

Chairperson of the Council Basavaraj Horatti administered the oath of office to the members and welcomed them.

The three posts in the council were vacant due to the resignation of former DCM Laxman Savadi, Baburao Chinchanasur and R. Shankar nominated by the BJP then.

Savadi joined Congress and now he is an MLA from the Athani constituency.

All three posts are now taken by Congress candidates.

The development is seen as the comeback of Shettar who lost elections from the Hubballi-Dharwad Central seat.

However, Shettar’s move of joining the Congress and quitting the BJP ahead of the elections proved beneficial to the Congress to break the Lingayat vote bank of the BJP.

As the session has commenced, Shettar will attend the session for the first time as a member of the Congress party and sources explain that the Congress is all set to use him as a shield against BJP in the House.

Reportedly, Shettar has been directed to launch offensives against the BJP on various issues.

With inputs from agencies

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