Ahead of Karnataka Assembly elections, former state chief minister Jagadish Shettar quit Bharatiya Janata Party and joined Congress party on Monday.
Shettar joined Congress in the presence of party Chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Karnataka state Congress President DK Shivakymar and the Leader of Opposition in the state assembly Siddaramaiah at the party office in Bengaluru.
Meanwhile, senior BJP leader Amar Singh Patil also joined Congress along with Shettar.
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 may be noted that the former Karnataka chief minister resigned from MLA seat and quit BJP on Sunday 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.
