BENGALURU: After former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar announced that he will resign from the BJP, there is much speculation on whether he will contest as an Independent or from the Congress.
Sources indicated that Shettar has been in touch with his relative Shamanur Shivashankarappa and talks about him joining the Congress have been going on. Congress leaders have already held a round of talks with Shettar and it is being said that he is ready to join the party without any pre-conditions.
Although the Congress has released its third list too, it has not announced a candidate for the Hubli-Dharwad Central constituency, represented by Shettar. The sources also said that the Congress has offered him the ticket to contest from the Hubli-Dharwad Central constituency. In addition to this, there is talk about giving tickets from Dharwad to his choice of candidate in the upcoming election.
Siddaramaiah spoke to the media in Haliayal in Uttara Kannada and said, “If Jagadish Shettar joins our party, we will welcome him. He has not yet spoken about joining Congress. It is not the right to deny a ticket to Jagdish Shettar. He said that the BJP has done injustice to those who helped build the party”.
Shamanur Shivashanakrappa and Jagadish Shettar connection
Shettar’s son Prashant Shettar, is married to the daughter of Shamanur’s second son Ganesh. The 92-year-old Shamanur Shivshankarappa is contesting from the Davanagere South Assembly Constituency.