Shettar blames B L Santosh for denying him the ticket; questions MP Joshi’s silence
3 min read
Hubballi: BJP rebel Jagadish Shettar made some explosive notes on why he was denied ticket by the party and who was behind it.
Addressing the media at his residence – after joining the Congress – on Tuesday, Shettar squarely blamed party national general secretary BL Santosh for depriving him a ticket to contest from the Hubballi-Dharwad Central constituency. He observed that by choosing Mahesh Tenginkayi, an ardent supporter of B L Santosh, the party’s base is shaky in the constituency.
“For the past few months, conspirators had already floated Mahesh Tenginkayi’s name for the constituency instead of my candidature. Today, Mahesh has the blessings of Santosh. But, to give ticket to his close aide, Santosh insulted a senior party worker like me,” Shettar said. He further claimed that with him coming out of the party, the impact would not just be in undivided Dharwad district but in the whole North Karnataka region.
He further said that the party seniors including J P Nadda, Dharmendra Pradhan and Arun Singh were informed about Santosh’s conspiracies but none of them took it serious. “For party, Santosh is important in Karnataka and not the party. With such an attitude, how could one expect strengthening of the party from them,” Shettar asked. Hinting at Santosh’s influence over the State leaders, Shettar said that B L Santosh controls the party in the State. “He was made the in-charge of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and West Bengal but the party did not benefit anything there. Yet, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah has given him the responsibility of the State. No one is making them understand the ground realities in the State,” he observed.
Taking dig at appointing former IPS officer Annamalai as the in-charge of State elections, Shettar said that Annamalai, who was made State BJP president in Tamil Nadu, could not do any magic there. The party won four seats with much difficulty. Yet, the party made him the in-charge of State elections, he ridiculed.
Shettar sought to know why MP Pralhad Joshi did not raise his voice when the party deprived me of the ticket. “I want Joshi to remember the days I worked to make him MP. When the party denied me the ticket, why he did not raise his voice for me? I was asked to contest Lok Sabha elections after Sankeshwar. But I clearly told them that I was not interested in national politics. I had suggested Joshi’s name and worked for his victory. What did he do for me in return?,” Shettar asked.
“I was forced to come out of the house that I also strived to build. Thanks to Santosh and his supporters for creating such a situation. If I had tolerated this, people would have questioned my self-respect. Politicians will win as long as they have the people’s support. There is no age factor for that,” he added.
On his decision to join Cogress, Shettar said that he want to retire from politics at 70, so instead of quitting without any self-respect, he decided to join Congress.
He further said that his life has been an open book as he has not done anything illegally. So, he will not fear IT or ED, he added. On party president JP Nadda’s visit to Hubballi, Shettar said it won’t help the party in any way, as the damage has already been done. “I am confident that I will with huge difference this time. I did not realise my importance when I was in BJP. But now I have realised,” Shettar said.
-Team Mysoorunews
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