Backstabbed Congress: Shivakumar on Jagadish Shetter joining BJP

After former Karnataka CM Jagadish Shetter rejoined BJP from the Congress on Thursday, Party leader and deputy CM DK Shivakumar slammed the senior leader and said he backstabbed the party.Speaking to reporters on Thursday in Bangakuru, DK Shivakumar said, “It is shocking for me. He told me on Wednesday that the Congress has reshaped his political career in Karnataka after BJP disowned him. He even said that the BJP is doing politics with Ram mandir in Ayodhya. Suddenly, he met them and fell for their promises.” DK Shivakumar also claimed that the Congress party treated him with utmost respect. “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,” DK Shivakumar added.

CM Siddaramaiah says, "Jagadish Shettar said that BJP insulted him by not giving him a ticket. Although we gave him a ticket he lost the assembly election. Still, we made him a member of the Legislative Council and treated him with respect. I don't know about him rejoining BJP".  

Earlier, former Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar, who had joined the Congress in April last year ahead of the state Assembly elections, rejoined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday.The 67-year-old leader  joined the BJP in the presence of former Karnataka Chief Minister and senior party leader BS Yediyurappa, his son and state party chief BY Vijayendra in New Delhi. The development came ahead of this year's Lok Sabha election.On re-joining the BJP, Shettar said he came back to the party again with the belief that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should be elected the Prime Minister again.

On re-joining BJP, former Karnataka CM Jagadish Shettar says, "The party gave me a lot of responsibilities in the past. Due to some issues, I went to the Congress party. In the last 8-9 months, there were a lot of discussions, also BJP workers asked me to come back to the BJP.… pic.twitter.com/Es7R7CqGgz

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He is a prominent Lingayat face in Karnataka and a six-time MLA, who served as the 15th chief minister of the state from 2012 to 2013. Shettar also served as the Leader of the Opposition when Siddaramaiah was last in power from 2014 to 2018.He began his political career in the 1980s and held various positions within the BJP, including state president and leader of the opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly.With Shettar's return to the BJP, this was a fresh jolt for the Congress, which is already reeling from the twin blows of the Opposition INDIA bloc's allies, TMC and AAP, deciding to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls alone. Both parties made the call due to issues in the seat-sharing talks.

(Dr Mysi Patil, State Correspondent)