K'taka: Jagadish Shettar joins Congress a day after quitting BJP, Kharge dubs it sign of winning 150 seats
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Bengaluru: In a big blow to BJP's Karnataka unit ahead of Assembly elections, senior party leader and former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar joined Congress on Monday, a day after he quit the saffron party.
He was welcomed by AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge and AICC General Secretary B.C. Venugopal at the Congress headquarters here.
With the joining of Shettar, the task given by Rahul Gandhi to win more than 150 seats in Karnataka is appearing closer, Kharge stated. "I welcome him wholeheartedly to the party," he added.
Though he hailed from Jan Sangh and RSS, Shettar has never done wrong. He had worked in the positions of DCM, Speaker and CM. No controversy has courted him, Kharge stated.
"I have spent 38 years in the legislature. When we were in power Shettar used to be in Opposition and vice-versa. There was no situation of confrontation ever between us," he further said.
Shettar said on Monday said that despite being instrumental in the building and strengthening BJP in Karnataka he was humiliated, and hence he has joined the Congress.
Terming it a matter of "self-respect", he said, "I will strengthen the Congress in the state as I did in the BJP."
"I have won six times since 1994 from Hubballi-Dharwad Central constituency. With the blessings of people, I managed to win with a margin of 20,000 to 25,000 votes every time. I was supposed to contest for the seventh time. Naturally, I was not worried about the allotment of the ticket," he stated.
"After former CM Yediyurappa, I am the most senior in the party. Yediyurappa has retired from electoral politics. In the party system, I was the senior and in terms of community leadership also I came next. The conspiracy was hatched systematically as if I become MLA again, I will compete for the highest post and subsequently I was thrown out," Shettar explained.
"My family has been associated with Jan Sangh since 1947. My uncle was the first person to get elected as MLA from south India. I was actively involved in ABVP. No one understood the pain. For six months I was humiliated. The state in-charges asked me at the last minute to send a letter agreeing to retire from electoral politics. There was no other way," Shettar stated.
"I am not criticising Prime Minister Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP National President J.P. Nadda. For the selfish goals of few persons in the state, the party is being sacrificed," he said.
"I have respect for Yediyurappa. He has built the party. I requested the party that I will contest this election and resign from the post after six months. Even this was not considered. Imagine the humiliation and pain I have gone through. I am joining Congress after resigning from BJP," Shettar maintained.
"The community members across the state are calling and asking that I was targeted because of my seniority. My new chapter will begin in the Congress," he said.
Terming it a "historical" day, state Congress President D.K. Shivakumar said that it was a historical day for the party and the state politics. He is a simple politician and there is no black mark on him and he never faced defeat in elections, Shivakumar added.
With inputs from agencies
