Congress leader Jagadish Shettar on Wednesday filed his nomination for the Hubli-Dharwad-Central Assembly constituency in the Karnataka Assembly Elections.
In less than a week, Jagadish Shettar became the second senior leader from the Lingayat community to defect from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and join the Congress. Former Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi had previously joined the Congress. Shettar will run against BJP candidate Mahesh Tenginkai in the election.
Shettar joined the Congress party on Monday, a day after leaving the BJP ahead of the May 10 Assembly elections in the state. Shettar was inducted into the party in presence of Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, the Karnataka state Congress president DK Shivakumar and the Leader of Opposition in the state assembly Siddaramaiah.
Senior BJP leader Amar Singh Patil also joined Congress along with Shettar.
Speaking at the occasion, 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 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,” he stated.