Last Updated: April 18, 2023, 20:05 IST
Former Karnataka CM Jagadish Shettar has joined Congress at the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee office in Bengaluru. (File Photo/News18)
The BJP picked its state general secretary (organisation) Mahesh Tenginkai for the the Hubli-Dharwad Central seat
Former Karnataka chief minister Jagadish Shettar on Tuesday claimed that BJP national general secretary (organisation) BL Santhosh denied him a ticket in the poll-bound state. Shettar, a six-time MLA, joined the Congress after quitting the saffron party on Monday and was given a ticket to contest from the Hubli-Dharwad Central constituency.
The BJP picked its state general secretary (organisation) Mahesh Tenginkai for the same seat.
“When there was a possibility of winning with maximum votes, the question emerged why the ticket was denied. What I saw was, the person whom people respect and call him Santhosh ji, it’s BL Santhosh, who is the root cause of all this,” Shettar was quoted as saying by news agency PTI in a press conference in Hubballi.
“The BJP gave a ticket to Tenginkai who worked for the party organisation. If the party wanted to honor him, it could have made him MLC or given him some important post,” Shettar, who was also a former Karnataka assembly Speaker, said, claiming that in the 2018 assembly election, Channappa Nimbannanavar was a strong contender from Kalghatgi constituency in Dharwad district but the local leaders revolted. The party was compelled to field Nimbannanavar.
He also accused Tenginkai of running a “whispering campaign” against him over the past six to seven months.
Stating that Santhosh has many “Maanas Putras” (a person who is treated like a son), Shettar said, “This Maanas Putra (Tenginkai) started a whispering campaign with his disciples against me for the past six to seven months.”
Voting for the 224-member Karnataka assembly will take place in single-phase on May 10 and the results will be released on May 13.
‘Shettar Will Suffer Defeat’
Meanwhile, senior BJP leader Arun Singh said the BJP cadres will teach Shettar a “lesson” by ensuring his defeat in the Karnataka elections for “betraying” the party.
Singh, the BJP general secretary in charge of the state, asserted that Hubli-Dharwad Central, the traditional seat of Shettar who is now fighting as a Congress candidate, has been a “safe” seat for the ruling party and will remain so.
“Shettar had been winning from the constituency as it was a BJP seat and not because of any mass base which he never had. BJP cadres are upset with his betrayal of the party and will ensure his defeat. He will be taught a lesson,” Singh told PTI.
He noted that Tenginkai is also a Lingayat like Shettar and belongs to the same sub-caste as the former chief minister.
(with inputs from PTI)
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