Former Karnataka chief minister Jagadish Shettar returned to the Bharatiya Janata Party on January 25 in an event in presence of party veteran BS Yediyurappa and Union minister Bhupender Yadav.
Shettar, the six-time Hubballi-Dharwad Central MLA, had moved to the Congress camp on April 17 last year after the BJP denied him a ticket for the Karnataka Assembly elections. However, he unsuccessfully contested the polls from his traditional seat.
While joining the party in New Delhi, Shettar said, “I am rejoining the Bharatiya Janata Party, which has given me several responsibilities in the past. I had quit the party because and joined the Congress because of several issues. In the last nine months, discussions were happening and grassroots level workers requested me to join the BJP again.”
Shettar was also elected as the Memeber of Legislative Council (MLC) unanimously on June 23 last year as the BJP did not field any candidate. His move of joining the Congress ahead of the state assembly elections had proved beneficial for the party to dent the Lingayat vote-bank of the BJP.
Shettar headed the BJP government as chief minister for 10 months from July 2012 to May 2013. He also served as the Leader of the Opposition and the Assembly Speaker.
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