Jagdish Shettar’s Return to BJP Was ‘Inevitable’, But Comes With Clauses. And There’s Something for BSY Too

It took a couple of calls from senior BJP leader BS Yediyurappa and state BJP chief BY Vijayendra, along with the promise of a Lok Sabha ticket, and the persistent feeling of being a ‘fish out of water’ in the Congress, for Jagdish Shettar to be persuaded to return to the saffron fold.

In a significant setback for the Congress, former chief minister Shettar, who left the BJP in frustration after being denied a ticket in the 2023 Assembly elections, is now back in the party that he describes as having “given me a lot of responsibilities in the past and also the opportunity to be the CM of Karnataka”.

Was Shettar sidelined in the Congress? Political analysts think so and concur with the fact that he certainly felt out of place in the ruling party, which had a completely different ideology and setup compared to the BJP, where the leader had spent four decades of his political career. He belongs to the Lingayat community, which forms close to 17 to 18% of Karnataka’s voting population and also has a significant say in the formation of governments in the state.

“It was a foregone conclusion that Shettar would not last long in the Congress. Born into a Jan Sangh family and given the fact that he has been anti-Congress, his blood is also anti-Congress. It was unnatural for him to be in that party,” explained political analyst SA Hemanth.

The analyst also adds that the leader lost his political credibility the day he left the BJP for the Congress.

“What did he achieve by going to the Congress? Except for the fact that he was made an MLC by the Congress, he was unable to defeat the BJP candidate from his own constituency, Mahesh Tenginakai, who stood against him. Tenginakai won with a thumping majority,” said Hemanth.

A Congress insider told that in the past couple of months, there was an inkling that some Congress Lingayat leaders had sensed that the former CM was on his way back to the BJP. These leaders even advised the Karnataka Congress leaders to be wary of the development, especially while discussing the Congress strategy for Lok Sabha elections.