DK Shivakumar: Shettar Treated with Respect in Congress

Bengaluru: Both Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Thursday stated that former Chief Minister and Congress MLC Jagadeesh Shettar who rejoined Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in New Delhi, had told them he was insulted by BJP leaders denying him a ticket to contest 2023 Assembly election and that he would not return to the BJP again. Both of them stated that Jagadeesh Shettar was treated respectfully by the Congress leaders.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah told reporters in Kodagu that he wasn’t aware of the reasons which made Shettar to rejoin the BJP while Shivakumar in Bengaluru said he does not know whether Shettar was forced to rejoin the BJP or he returned back to BJP under some pressure.

Shivakumar said he had not received a resignation letter from Jagadeesh Shettar while sources said that Shettar had dispatched his resignation letter to Shivakumar over e-mail.

Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar stated that Shettar was made an MLC despite he lost the Hubballi Central Assembly seat in the 2023 election as a Congress nominee. Shivakumar said he spoke to Jagadeesh Shettar on Wednesday morning and Shettar had stated that the Congress party had given him the political rebirth and had cleared that he would not go back to the BJP. But, Shettar had brought to his notice that BJP leaders have contacted him to rejoin the party.

Shivakumar said Congress party made him an MLA despite he lost Hubballi Central seat by a margin of 35,000 votes and “I will leave it to his conscience (on why he left Congress party).”

Asked whether others would also follow the footsteps of Shettar particularly incumbent Athani MLA Laxman Savadi, a senior leader who quit BJP to join Congress party in 2023, Shivakumar stated that Shettar’s resignation was a different issue and none of the other leaders would quit the party.