Jagadish Shettar filed his nomination from the Hubli-Dharwad-Central assembly constituency.
Hubli:
Former Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jagadish Shettar on Sunday met Rahul Gandhi for the first time after joining the Congress and said he became part of the grand old party because of the “bad practices” advocated by the BJP.
After meeting Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Shettar said, “First meeting with Rahul Gandhi and we discussed many issues…”
Shettar told ANI, “I came to join Congress because everyone knows the ill-treatment given by BJP. So, I have shifted to another national party. Rahul Gandhi is the leader of that party. So, I have done many discussed things.”
Jagadish Shettar on Thursday alleged that “some people with vested interests are controlling the BJP government in Karnataka”.
Shettar said, “The BJP government has completed 5 years in Karnataka. People are talking about misbehaving with seniors, but not about other issues like development. Are the important issues resolved? But now seniors ( Due to negligence of BJP), this discussion was started. Some vested interests are controlling entire BJP in Karnataka and Govt.
Jagadish Shettar on Wednesday filed his nomination for the upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections from the Hubli-Dharwad-Central assembly constituency.
Jagadish Shettar has become the second senior leader from the Lingayat community to quit the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and join the Congress in less than a week. Earlier, former Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka Laxman Savadi had joined the Congress.
Mr Shettar is set to face BJP candidate Mahesh Tenginkai in the election.
A day after quitting the BJP ahead of the May 10 assembly elections in the state, Mr Shettar joined the Congress party on Monday.
Mr Shettar was inducted into the party in the presence of Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Karnataka State Congress president DK Shivakumar and Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly Siddaramaiah.
Along with Shettar, senior BJP leader Amar Singh Patil also joined the Congress.
The Karnataka assembly elections will be held in a single phase on May 10, with the counting of votes scheduled for May 13.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)