Karnataka polls: Sulking Jagadish Shettar meets JP Nadda, may get ticket

New Delhi, April 12

A day after declaring that he would contest the May 10 Karnataka election at any cost, former state Chief Minister and BS Yediyurappa confidant Jagadish Shettar on Wednesday met BJP president JP Nadda and exuded confidence of resolution of the matter.

Shettar, who had been asked by the party leadership to stand down this time and make way for a new candidate in his Hubbali-Dharwad Central Assembly segment, had yesterday defied the diktat and said he would go ahead and contest since he had already started campaigning.

After meeting Nadda at the latter’s residence, Shettar said he conveyed to the leadership that he had won six consecutive elections from his seat and had no blot on his political career.

“I met the party president and explained to him my viewpoint. I told him that I am going to contest the election. I said I have been elected six times in a row and should be given another chance. The party president said he would discuss the matter with other leaders and come to a conclusion,” Shettar said after the meeting.

Jagadish Shettar is a tall Lingayat leader and was made the CM in 2012 after the state was rocked by a mining scandal.

The BJP may eventually bow to Shettar’s rebellion to avoid the trouble it invited in Himachal Pradesh by ignoring revolts.

BJP’s second list out

The BJP on Wednesday released the second list of 23 Karnataka candidates, taking the total number of declared candidates to 212. The party had declared 189 candidates on Tuesday. Among the 12 pending seats is Hubbali-Dharwad Central from where former Karnataka CM Jagadish Shettar is the sitting MLA.