Donning the walls of his office dotted with personal workers and greeters are still framed pictures with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. It seems odd for a man who has recently quit his party of over 30 years after a bitter fallout and denial of ticket. But former chief minister of Karnataka and six-time Hubballi-Dharwad Central MLA Jagdish Shettar has found some grace in the situation.
“I only left yesterday. Why should I remove all photos with Modi and Shah? They are all memories. It’s not good human nature to throw them out immediately.”
Amid the campaigning blitzkrieg, Shettar, who quit the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and is now contesting from the Congress, said that it is his hard work that “made Hubballi-Dharwad a BJP bastion”.
“Before my first election in 1994, I worked for the party as a unit president for three years. I got workers for the party. Then the BJP won and I got elected. Before that, BJP candidates used to lose their deposits. It wasn’t a BJP bastion. It became one because of Shettar-BJP combination. I created the atmosphere and mindset amongst the people for the party,” said the 67-year-old.
“All six times that I contested, I won with a huge margin. I connect with the people here. The injustice and hurting my self-respect are also showing disrespect towards people’s wishes. So, a trend has started. People are saying they will vote for me looking into my individuality and work. Which party I contest from is not important.”
Shettar is hurt about being denied a ticket and hasn’t held back since. “I am a senior. All surveys related to me are positive. The party never told me what my minus point was. People over 70 are also contesting. There are no charges or CD of sting operation against me. I had asked the party to give me a reason for denial. No party leader has been able to tell me why.”
Then, why the denial?
“I have said openly it is because of BL Santosh’s personal interest.”
The former CM is not too bothered that joining a party so opposite to his former in ideology will be an issue. According to Shettar, the BJP has no ideology anymore.
“I will express my opinion on issues such as Muslim reservation on the party forum in Congress,” he says, shirking a question on where he stands on such issues that divide the Congress and the BJP. While the incumbent BJP government has taken a decision to scrap 4% Muslim quota, subject to legal battles, the Congress has vowed to bring it back.
“What ideology is left in the BJP? Six ministers have CDs against them, have sought a stay order from court and are contesting the election. So many rowdy-sheeters are there. They say the BJP is honest. Where? When you had less seats, you brought people from the Congress majorly. Wasn’t their ideology different then?”
Shettar’s poll prediction is the Congress will win a clear majority. “The Congress will get a clear majority. It could also reach 130 or above.”
When asked the reason behind it, he said, “Anti-incumbency, price rise, unemployment and corruption. Many important people like Laxman Savadi and I have left, many Lingayat leaders have left.”
And that will be the crucial test this election if the Lingayat community rescinds some of its support to the BJP. Shettar belongs to this community which forms close to 17-18 per cent of Karnataka’s voting population and has a major say in the formation of governments in the state.
“Whether the BJP government’s decision on Lingayat reservation [increasing it to 7 per cent from the current 5 per cent] will benefit people is not clear. It is only a cabinet decision. How can they (BJP) say it benefitted people? Lingayats are not satisfied with what the BJP has done. People are quiet only because of the elections. After the polls, we will see,” he signed off.
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