Guwahati: Karnataka Former chief minister Jagadish Shettar quits Bharatiya Janata Party and joins Congress on Monday ahead of the state assembly elections.
Shettar joined Congress in the presence of the party’s leader Mallikarjun Kharge, the president of the Karnataka state Congress, DK Shivakymar and Siddaramaiah, the leader of the opposition in the state assembly.
Along with Shettar, veteran BJP leader Amar Singh Patil also switched to BJP.
After joining the party, Shettar said, “Yesterday I left BJP and today I joined the Congress party. Many are surprised as an opposition leader, former chief minister and party president is joining Congress. BJP has given me every position and being a party worker I always worked for the party’s growth.”
“I was among those who organised and worked for the growth of the (BJP) party. Yes BJP gave me respect and position. I won as an MLA six times and I I thought I would be naturally fielded for the seventh time,” he said.
He stated his reasons of leaving the party saying, “I thought being a senior leader, I will get the ticket, but when I came to know that I am not getting it, I was shocked. No one spoke to me nor tried to convince me, not even gave assurance about what position will I get.”
“On April 11, the party in-charge said I had not been given a ticket. He spoke to me like speaking to a child. What should I do? I got a call in the morning and I was spoken to like I am a first time MLA or aspirant. I’m hurt. I was treated badly,” he further stated.
It should be mentioned that the former chief minister of Karnataka left the BJP and his MLA seat ahead of the upcoming state assembly elections.
In this regard, he took to twitter and wrote, “Fed up with the political events of the past few days, I have resigned from my MLA seat and will discuss my next move with the activists. As usual, I believe that your love and blessings will always be with me.”
The Karnataka assembly election is scheduled to be held on May 10 and the results will be out on May 13.