Karnataka polls: Shettar blames Santhosh for ticket snub, BJP says 'will teach him a lesson'

A staunch RSS man, former Karnataka chief minister Jagadish Shettar was part of the Jan Sangh and BJP for several decades before severing his ties with the party upon his candidature being overlooked for the May 10 election and joined Congress on Monday.

Hubballi (Karnataka):Former Karnataka chief minister Jagadish Shettar on Tuesday blamed BJP national general secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh for rejecting his plea for a ticket in the poll-bound state a day after quitting the party and joining the Congress. The Congress honoured Shettar, a six-time MLA, by giving him a ticket to contest from the Hubli-Dharwad Central constituency, while the BJP chose 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 B L Santhosh, who is the root cause of all this," Shettar said in a press conference here. Explaining further, Shettar, the former Leader of Opposition, said he fell victim to the game played against him and added the ticket that was announced in his favour was taken back later, he charged.

The BJP gave ticket to Tenginkai who worked for the party organisation. If the party wanted to honour him, it could have made him MLC or given some important post, Shettar, who was also a former Karnataka Assembly Speaker, said. He claimed 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.

The veteran leader 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 (Mahesh Tenginkai) started a whispering campaign with his disciples against me for the past six to seven months."

Meanwhile, the BJP said its cadres will teach Shettar a "lesson" by ensuring his defeat in the Karnataka elections for "betraying" the party, senior BJP leader Arun Singh said on Tuesday, rejecting the Congress' charge that the ruling party has insulted Lingayats by denying tickets to senior leaders from the community like him.

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 was quoted as having said by news agency PTI.

He noted that Mahesh Tenginkai is also a Lingayat like Shettar and belongs to the same subcaste as Shettar. A staunch RSS man, Shettar was part of the Jan Sangh and BJP for several decades before severing his ties with the party upon his candidature being overlooked for the May 10 election and joined Congress on Monday. Several attempts were made to persuade him by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, Union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Pralhad Joshi to stop him from going out of the party but he remained adamant of contesting the polls at any cost. Voting will take place in the state on May 10 and the results will be out on May 13.