The BJP workers in the Davangere district of Karnataka burnt the portrait of former CM Jagadish Shettar, who recently joined the Congress party, after being denied ticket for May 10 assembly polls from the BJP. The portrait of Shettar, hung on a wall of a party office in Davangere, was taken off and burnt with sloganeering by the workers against the Lingayat leader.
Shettar has won from this constituency six times since 1994. He had won all elections on the BJP ticket. He was denied a ticket by the ruling BJP to contest the Karnataka Legislative Assembly elections on May 10. For the first time, he would be contesting elections on the Congress ticket.The 67-year-old Lingayat leader joined the Congress at the party office in Bengaluru in the presence of AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president D.K. Shivakumar and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, KPCC campaign Committee chairman M.B. Patil, and AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal.
Shettar lashed out at BJP leaders in Karnataka. “A few leaders are controlling the BJP in Karnataka for serving their self-interest. I am not criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP president J.P. Nadda. They are unaware of the developments in the BJP in Karnataka. Some party leaders are above the party (BJP) in Karnataka,” he said. “I was in the BJP not for power. I am from the Sangh Parivar and an ABVP leader. But the BJP humiliated me by denying the ticket at the last minute. The BJP leaders could have informed me about the ticket a few days ago,” Mr Shettar said.