Hubballi: Former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar, who is now the Congress candidate for the Hubballi-Dharwad Central assembly constituency, accused the BJP of disrespecting him and the entire community at a meeting organized by the Veerashaiva Lingayat Swabhimani Balaga on Friday evening.
Shettar narrated the incidents that led him to quit the party and made an emotional appeal to the people to support him in the upcoming election.
According to Shettar, the BJP behaved arrogantly towards him and posed a challenge by not giving him a ticket. The challenge was not for only him but it is to the entire community. He said that although the BJP claims to have given him many opportunities; the fact is that those opportunities were given to him in bits and pieces.
Despite working for the party for over 30 years and serving as the Opposition Leader for 10 years, he was only made chief minister for 10 months and given short spans of time as a minister. Shettar emphasized that serving as the Opposition Leader was a laborious job that required a lot of energy and work.
Shettar also revealed that he was not only denied a ticket but was also asked to take political retirement by Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. However, he resisted and rejected their offers as his demand was to get the party ticket to contest the election. He claimed that the BJP was adamant about their decision, and he was forced to quit.
At the meeting, former minister Shamnur Shivashankarappa, former MLC Mohan Limbikai, former MLA PC Siddannavar, former minister Allam Veerabhadrappa, Veeranna Mattikatti, Manjunath Kunnur, and others were also present.
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