BENGALURU/HUBBALLI: Former Karnataka CM
Jagadish Shettar resigned as MLA on Sunday after the
BJP leadership denied him the ticket to contest from Hubballi-Dharwad Central constituency in the May 10 assembly elections. BJP tried to convince him to stay, offering him three choices-a Rajya Sabha seat, a Union ministerial berth, and a party ticket to a family member to contest the assembly polls.
The 67-year-old Shettar still went ahead with his resignation, but has not renounced his BJP primary membership.
"All that I had requested was to allow me to contest from my assembly seat as I just wanted to remain an ordinary MLA. Now that I have resigned, I will definitely contest elections, although I am yet to decide whether as an independent on the ticket of any party," said Shettar, six-time MLA from Hubballi-Dharwad Central.
Later in the evening, Shettar reached Bengaluru along with Congress members, to meet the Opposition party's functionaries.
This is the second jolt for BJP after another Lingayat politician and former deputy CM Laxman Savadi switched over to Congress after BJP denied him a ticket to contest from Athani seat in Belagavi district.
Congress's election campaign committee chairman MB Patil said Shettar has been invited to join the party.