When the ticket distribution for the upcoming Karnataka assembly elections was announced, veterans such as Jagadish Shettar and Laxman Savadi left the BJP, and the Opposition Congress alleged the ill-treatment of Lingayat leaders at the hands of the saffron party. In an exclusive interview with News18, chief minister Basavaraj Bommai said the BJP “built" the two leaders, and if they decide to rebel, what will people think of this ahead of elections?
Bommai explained that the party was behind the growth of the two leaders. He denied any ill-effect of the two Lingayat leaders quitting the party as the seats, which they represented, are “cadre based".
When asked if the BJP will win the seats – Hubballi-Dharwad and Athani – which were contested by Shettar and Savadi in previous elections, a confident Bommai replied, “The way things stand today, we will win both the seats".
Former deputy chief minister Shettar had quit the BJP mid-April after the party denied him ticket from Hubballi-Dharwad constituency.
Shettar, a former state BJP president, resigned as an MLA and also parted ways with the party after a three-decade long association. He joined the Congress after saying he was “humiliated and badly treated by the BJP leaders". “A few leaders in the state are misusing the BJP system and it is hurtful," he had alleged.
Senior leader BS Yediyurappa had expressed his unhappiness over Shettar’s decision of leaving the party ahead of polls, and said if Shettar joins Congress, then he will “personally" campaign in his constituency and “make sure that he will be defeated". The Lingayat community will always be with the BJP, the party stalwart stressed.
Read all the Latest News here
Comments
0 comment