Jagadish Shettar admant on contesting Karnataka polls, receives summon by BJP High Command

Jagadish Shettar, former Karnataka Chief Minister and senior BJP leader, was summoned by the party High Command on Tuesday, after he remain adamant about contesting the upcoming Karnataka polls, scheduled for May 10. Notably, Shettar was summoned on the backdrop of his revealing that he will not retire from electoral politics for the next 10-15 years and will contest the polls from the Hubballi-Dharwad Central constituency (earlier Hubballi Rural) which he has been representing continuously since 1994.

The development came after the six-time MLA despite receiving a call from the BJP High Command on Tuesday, asking him to step down called a presser and asserted that he will contest the polls. 

Making clear that he will remain active in politics for the next 10-15 years, Shettar said, “I am shocked and hurt. I don't know why they asked me to vacate and give chance to others. I have requested the High Command to reconsider its decision."

"I had not called anyone. Now, they themselves have called me and said they want to have an open discussion. I will be going to Delhi tomorrow. My name should have been on the first list. It wasn't there. In that background, and the fact that I hadn't made attempts to call them, party president Nadda called me to have an open discussion. I will be going," he added. 

Shettar defiant to take BJP’s order

Expressing his unhappiness with the party over its decision, the defiant BJP leader said, “If the High Command really wanted me to retire from electoral politics, they should have called him two-three months earlier and have conveyed their thinking to me.”

“But they are informing me now when just two days are left for the start of the filing of nomination papers. As a former Chief Minister, I deserve some respect for what I have done for the party. In fact, I have already started campaigning and people have welcomed my decision to contest again.” 

BJP planning to bring new faces

In what is seen as a similar strategy followed by BJP in Gujarat, the saffron party is focussing on bringing new faces in the Karnataka polls as well.  With the release of the first list of the BJP comprising the names of 189 candidates, the party is fielding 52 new faces in the Karnataka polls. Notably, of the 52 new candidates, eight are women. 

Notably, the BJP earlier during the Gujarat polls replaced 38 of its sitting MLAs, particularly senior leaders, with new faces. Registering a massive victory in the Gujarat polls, the BJP won 156 of 182 total seats marking its best-ever performance in the state.