Lingayat politician and former Karnataka chief minister Jagadish Shettar, who quit the BJP before the Karnataka Assembly Election in 2023 after being denied a ticket, has rejoined the party.
On Thursday afternoon, he returned to the BJP headquarters and was welcomed back by former Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa and state BJP President BY Vijayendra. While talk was prevalent that Jagadish Shettar, whose lengthy relationship with the BJP and his surprise last-minute transfer before of the state election, would make another switch, Congress sources stated many BJP leaders were anxious for Shettar’s return. “This is a tell-tale sign of weakness in the party. They don’t have candidates for the upcoming general elections,” Karnataka deputy chief minister D K Shivakumar said hours before Shettar joined the BJP.
“The party gave me a lot of responsibilities in the past. Because of some issues, I went to the Congress party. In the last 8-9 months, there were a lot of discussions in the BJP. Karnataka BJP leaders and workers asked me to come back to the BJP. Yediyurappa ji and Vijayendra ji 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 PM again,” Shettar said as he rejoined.
#WATCH | Former Karnataka CM Jagadish Shettar re-joins BJP in the presence of former CM-senior party leader BS Yediyurappa and state BJP President BY Vijayendra, at BJP Headquarters in Delhi.
— ANI (@ANI) January 25, 2024
He had quit BJP and joined Congress in April last year. pic.twitter.com/sVJpP9AVu2
The BJP and the JD(S) are both suffering from a severe lack of leadership and self-confidence, therefore they have joined forces. Shivakumar stated on Wednesday that they are now frantically attempting to bring Shettar back into the party fold.
Jagadish Shettar was named an MLC after he lost Hubli Dharwad Central by a significant margin.
Jagadish Shettar, the six-term MLA (former) from Hubli, resigned the BJP after not receiving a ticket from the party. After joining the Congress, he ran in his Hubli-Central Dharwad constituency and lost by a large majority against the BJP’s Mahesh Tenginkai. The Congress appointed him as an MLC.
When Shettar left the BJP in April 2023, he said that senior BJP officials had insulted him and that his choice to leave the Saffron party was permanent. “The treatment I have received from BJP leaders in recent days has been nothing short of humiliation. I was mistreated by party members, which prompted me to declare my resignation. “Some leaders in the state are abusing the BJP system,” Shettar stated at the time.
When Yediyurappa had to resign down as Chief Minister of Karnataka in 2012-2013, 68-year-old Shettar, a staunch RSS member, took over. Shettar also served as Speaker of the Assembly in 2008.
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