Shettar ‘dumped’, may not get Assembly poll ticket?

EX- CM absent from party events, upset with Bommai elevation

Shyam Sundar Vattam | NT

Bengaluru: Has the BJP dumped for mer CM and veteran leader Jagadish Shettar in a bid to promote incumbent Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai as an alternative Lingayat leader replacing another former CM, B.S.Yediyurappa?

It seems so despite the fact that Shettar has hugely contributed to building the BJP in North Karnataka in general and Dharwad, Gadad, and Haveri districts in particular. He had played a lead role in the Hubballi Idgah Main row and in securing the separate zonal headquarters for Hubballi and a bench of Karnataka High Court for the city.

Shettar’s father S.S.Shettar was a Jan Sangh leader and had served as member of the Hubli Municipal Borough. While Yediyurappa is a Pan Karnataka Lingayat leader, Shettar has been the face of Lingayats in Mumbai-Karnataka region. He worked as a minister in the Yediyurappa Government in 2019 but refused to be minister after Bommai was anointed chief minister.

Since then the chemistry between Shettar and Bommai has reportedly not been good. During the bye-elections to Hangal in Haveri district and Sindagi in Raichur district about a year ago, the CM did not consult or invite Shettar for the campaign in both constituencies.

The former CM has also stopped appearing at party and government functions. He was reportedly upset on the day Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced in Davangere that the BJP would face the next Assembly elections under the leadership of Bommai and he would be the next CM if the saffron party comes back to power in Karnataka.

Shettar, an advocate at Hubballi Court, plunged into politics at a young age and got elected from the Hubballi Rural Assembly constituency by defeating then Congress leader and former minister, Gopinath Sandra in the late 90s.

He was considered close to former PM Atal Behari Vajpayee, former Deputy PM Lal Krishna Advani, and former union minister H.N. Ananth Kumar. Speculation is rife in Hubballi-Dharwad cities that he may be denied a ticket to contest in the coming Assembly polls. Some feel it would be suicidal for the saffron party to do this.