Karnataka elections 2023: Jagadish Shettar to take call on changing parties soon

Jagadish Shettar, the former Karnataka chief minister who recently quit the BJP, said he will take a call on joining another party by Sunday evening. This comes after Shettar resigned as MLA from the Sirsi constituency. "I will take the decision about joining any other party by today evening. I will go to Bangalore and give my resignation to the party. The High Command has offered me Rajya Sabha membership but I did not accept it," Shettar said. 

#WATCH | Hubli: I will take the decision about joining any other party by today evening. I will go to Bangalore and give my resignation to the party. The High command has offered me Rajya Sabha membership but I did not accept it: Former BJP MLA Jagdish Shetter pic.twitter.com/tQdIbEeKDw

— ANI (@ANI)

Wanted seat from Hubballi-Dharwad-Central

Before this, Shettar, who has been upset over ticket denial for the upcoming Karnataka elections also said he only wanted the MLA seat for Hubballi-Dharwad-Central. He said, "I wanted only the MLA seat for Hubballi-Dharwad-Central. I had contributed to the growth of the party in the state." Earlier on Sunday, Jagadish Shettar tendered his resignation as MLA to Karnataka Assembly Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri at Sirsi.

Speaking about the party's initiative to bring in younger faces for the upcoming Karnataka polls, he said, "Why the ticket has been given to people who are 76 years old. I am 67. There are many elder persons who aren't replaced." He also spoke about speculations of him switching to Congress and said, "I will take the next course of action after going to Hubballi. I haven't decided to join Congress yet."

BS Yediyurappa speaks on Shettar's decision

Former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, while commenting on Jagadish Shettar's decision to exit the BJP over the denial of a ticket, stated that the latter's statements had made the party unhappy. He said, "We made him (Jagadish Shettar) the CM of Karnataka, and we made him the state BJP president. The statements given by him have made us unhappy. People knew about Jagadish Shettar only because of BJP." 

Karnataka CM reacts to Shettar's resignation

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai also reacted to the resignation of Shettar and said there was no conspiracy over the denial of a ticket to Shettar as the decision was taken by the party's high command. 

He said, "It is unfortunate that he (Jagadish Shettar) is going to resign today. He was the former CM and the party president as well. There will be a small impact on the party and BJP is capable of overcoming it. The party has decided to give way to the younger generation."

He added, "I and Jagadish Shettar had great attachments and the party was also really good toward him. But he took his decision of leaving the party over the denial of a ticket to him from the Hubli-Dharwad Central Assembly constituency. There was no conspiracy as the decision was taken by BJP high command."