Bengaluru: A day after his shock defeat, sulking Jagadish Shettar, who switched allegiance to the Congress just before the state polls after being denied a ticket, blamed "money power and pressure tactics" applied by his rivals for the poll debacle from the Hubli-Dharwad Central assembly constituency.
Former Karnataka Chief Minister and ex-BJP leader, Shettar, also a Lingayat heavyweight, lost to the BJP's Mahesh Tenginakai by over 34,000 votes but claimed his quitting the BJP and raising the pitch on the Lingayats helped the Congress in 20 to 25 seats. He accused his rival of "distributing ₹ 500, 1,000" to voters.
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"In the last six elections, I have not at all used money power, never distributed money to voters. (This is the) First time that the BJP candidate has distributed ₹ 500-1000 to voters," Shettar was quoted as saying by ANI. The former BJP leader also dubbed his dissociation with the saffron party as a step towards the recognition and welfare of Lingayat community, Jagdish Shettar implied that his former party did not do enough for them.
Shettar announced his resignation from the BJP last month after he was denied a ticket for the May 10 elections. A day later, the 67-year-old joined the Congress in the presence of party president Mallikarjun Kharge, the party's Karnataka president DK Shivakumar and Congress leaders Randeep Surjewala and Siddaramaiah in Bengaluru. At the time of dissociation with the BJP, Shettar said that he felt "humiliated" by the treatment meted out to him by higher-ups in the party.
