Several BJP leaders are in touch with me, says Jagadish Shettar

Jagadish Shettar (Congress) claims several BJP leaders are planning to join Congress due to mismanagement of State unit leadership. Govind Karjol (BJP) accuses CM Siddaramaiah of neglecting Badami, Bagalkot & Vijayapura districts & not releasing funds for Upper Krishna project. Lingayat leaders not in Congress frontline since Indira Gandhi's time.

The former Chief Minister and Congress leader Jagadish Shettar said in Gadag on Sunday that several BJP leaders are planning to join the Congress. Several BJP leaders and legislators are in touch with me over this issue, he said. He refused to reveal the names of such leaders.

He told reporters that the BJP is suffering from a serious mismanagement of the State unit leadership.

“It fielded wrong candidates in the Assembly elections and lost. In Ramadurga, for example, an extremely rich candidate from outside the district was fielded, while in Byndoor, a candidate with criminal antecedents was chosen,” he said.

“The BJP in Karnataka is a leaderless party. I have said this earlier also. Its leadership is reduced to a few people. Vital decisions such as choosing the Opposition leader have not been taken even after 100 days of elections. I feel that it should choose the Opposition leader by draw of lots,” he said.

To a query, he said that the Congress leadership will decide on whether he contests on Congress ticket from Dharwad, against MP and Union Minister Pralhad Joshi in the Lok Sabha elections.

Meanwhile, in Vijayapura, the former Minister and BJP leader Govind Karjol said that the Congress treated Lingayat leaders only as second-line leaders.

Lingayat leaders have not been in the frontline in the Congress since Indira Gandhi’s time. One should ask how the party is treating senior Lingayat leaders like Basavaraj Rayaraddi, Shamanur Shivashankarappa and B.R. Patil, he told reporters.