After being humiliated by the BJP, former Karnataka Chief Minister and senior Lingayat leader from north Karnataka Jagadish Shettar joined the Congress party on Monday. Shettar reached the state Congress office today early morning. He joined the party in the presence of AICC chief Mallikarjun Kharge and other senior Congress leaders.
Shettar resigned a day ago
On Sunday, Shettar resigned from the Assembly and was said to contest as an independent from the Hubballi-Dharwad central constituency in the May 10 Assembly elections. Shettar said he would resign from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Lingayat leader may join the Congress soon, said reports.
“I will take a decision about joining any other party by this evening. I will go to Bangalore and give my resignation to the party. The high command has offered me Rajya Sabha membership but I did not accept it,” Shettar said.
BJP top guns tried to convince Shettar after his decision
Earlier in the morning, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and Union ministers Pralhad Joshi and Dharmendra Pradhan tried to convince Shettar to stay in the party, but he was firm about contesting the Assembly election. Union Home Minister Amit Shah also tried to persuade the six-time MLA to remain in the BJP, according to Bommai.
“BJP national president JP Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah had promised a big post to him in Delhi. I promised Shettar that the ticket would be given to the candidate of his choice, but he refused,” Bommai said. Shettar reached Sirsi in Uttara Kannada district and handed over his resignation letter to Assembly Speaker Vishveshwar HegdeKageri, who is also a BJP leader.
