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By India Today Web Desk: Former Karnataka Chief Minister, Jagadish Shettar, who is contesting on a Congress ticket after being denied a chance to contest under the BJP symbol, still has photos of PM Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on a wall in his home-cum-office. And Shettar says he isn’t going to remove them.
Although hurt after being denied a ticket by the BJP in the upcoming Assembly elections, Shettar is adamant that the photos of PM Modi and Amit Shah are not going to be dislodged.
Shettar has represented the Hubli-Dharwad Central Assembly seat as a BJP candidate since 1994. He claims that the party didn’t have an “address” there earlier and that its candidates had lost their poll deposits. He said he nurtured the BJP in the region, making it a “Shettar vs Congress” battle ever since.
After severing his decades-old ties with the BJP, Sgettar puts a Congress flag on his car and sets out to campaign along with workers of his newfound party.
WHY PM MODI, AMIT SHAH PHOTOS STILL HANGING?
Putting the past behind him, Shettar meets supporters and party workers at his home-cum-office, sitting on a sofa with photos of PM Modi and Amit Shah hanging on the wall behind him.
Shettar asks, “What is so surprising about it,” when queried why he had not removed the photos of the BJP leaders after exiting the party and joining Congress.
“Immediately after shifting from one party to another, removing photos of earlier leaders is not a good thing. I cannot do that,” he said.
In the past, Shettar and his wife have repeated several times that they have respect for PM Modi and Amit Shah.
Stating this would be his last assembly election, the six-time MLA said, “This election is a fight for my self-respect, not for political aspirations. As my self-respect was damaged, I joined the Congress for my own peace without conditions,” he added.
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The veteran Karnataka politician believes the BJP should have given him an honourable exit by fielding him from his seat for the last time. “That did not happen due to General Secretary (Organisation) B L Santhosh who pushed for a ticket for his close associate and did all this drama,” he claimed.
Shettar further said the poll ticket was denied also because there were apprehensions that he might claim the number-one position among Lingayats after former Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa.
SHETTAR SAYS FACED EMBARASSMENT
Asked if he was facing difficulty in convincing voters as a Congress candidate now, he admitted that he faced “some embarrassment” in the beginning. Gradually, voters are realised when told that he was denied a BJP ticket without being cited any reason.
“Nobody knows why I was denied a ticket despite having popularity, age, no criminal background and no corruption/CDs. Whereas the BJP has given tickets to 75-year-old people, family members and those with a criminal background,” he said.
Shettar mentioned he was receiving a positive public response so far and added, “I have still maintained my popularity because of development work. There is no anti-incumbency. I am confident of winning my seat with a huge majority this time.”
He said there was “miscommunication” that he won in the last six consecutive elections with the support of BJP workers and Marathas.
Shettar shared that he first contested on a BJP ticket in 1994 and before that he nurtured the saffron party for three years. Then he became president of a party unit and later the state chief.
The former chief minister also said he was not “power hungry” and would have become a minister in the Basavaraj Bommai cabinet had he been so.
“Bommai is junior to me in politics. Immediately after his swearing-in as CM, I did not join the cabinet. I have been working as an MLA for the last two years.”
‘DIDN’T CONSTRUCT ANY BUNGALOW IN BENGALURU’
On JD(S) leader CM Ibrahim’s demand to probe into Shettar’s properties in and around Hubbali, he said, “I have not constructed any bungalow in Bengaluru.”
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“Here also, I have limited property within the legal purview. I am not a political leader worth Rs 1,000 crore. I don’t have crores of transactions. These are all vague allegations.”
Asked if his exit has affected his son’s political prospects in the BJP, Shettar said, “I always believe: one family, one seat is sufficient. I am not going to insist that my children become my successors. If they have leadership and interest, they can grow.”
With a week left for voting, the Congress leader said his family had taken this election as a personal challenge.
“More than me, my wife is working hard in this election. She is doing door-to-door campaigning for me,” he added.
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