Shettar will lose election: Amit Shah

Hubballi,(thestates.news) Union Home Minister and BJP Electoral Chief Strategist Amit Shah on Monday said Ex-CM Jagadish Shettar will lose the upcoming assembly election because Hubballi has always voted for BJP, not for an individual. “No harm is done. Jagadish Shettar himself will lose the election. Hubballi has always voted for BJP. Hubballi has not given vote to an individual, and BJP workers are united and definitely BJP will win the election in Hubballi,” he told reporters here at a press conference.
A couple of days after Shettar was denied ticket by the BJP to contest from Hubballi-Dharwad Central constituency, he tendered his resignation as BJP MLA by handing over the letter to Karnataka Speaker Vishveshwar Hegde Kageri and next day resigned from the primary membership of the party before joining Congress.

Asked why Shettar was denied a ticket, Amit Shah said: “Many people have been denied the ticket. Shettar ji is not the only leader who was denied a ticket.” Asked about Congress party’s narrative that the BJP has humiliated its Lingayat leaders, Amit Shah said the grand old party does not have any right to talk about it as it is the Congress that humiliated the only two Lingayat chief ministers in the state’s political history. Moreover, the party has not meted out injustice to Lingayat leaders, because not a single ticket has been given to a non-Lingayat in place of a Lingayat, he said.

“I want to ask Congress a question. When two of our leaders went to Congress, their mouths started watering. Brother, what did the Congress party do for Lingayats?,” Shah asked. “In the whole political history of the state, only two chief ministers from the Lingayat community were elected. Both were humiliated and removed. One was removed by Mrs Indira Gandhi, and the other, I am talking about Virendra Patil, was removed by Rajiv Gandhi at the airport. Congress has no right to talk about Lingayats,” he added.

On the contrary, the BJP has always tried to respect all castes, and treat everybody in equal terms, Shah said. Asked to comment on Savadi and Shettar’s comments that a few vested interests are controlling BJP in Karnataka, Shah said the BJP is not under the control of individuals.(UNI)