Jagadish Shettar: The undefeated Sardar felled by his disciple

Hubli: While the whole Congress party leaders celebrating victory across the state , a congress leader who surprisingly defated by his disciple is in grief . The constituency drawn the attention of state after Shettar entered fray as rebel candidate. Former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar, who had ended his four decade association with the BJP and joined the Congress camp, has now lost by a margin of about 32,000 votes. Shettar’s disciple , Mahesh Tenginakai, contested from BJP defeated him who contested as a Congress candidate from Hubballi Dharwad central assembly Constituency.

Shettar family was associated with RSS . He was working with BJP since last four decades , severed ties after party denied him ticket and joined Congress. He had won six times in a row and flourished in the Hubli Dharwad Central constituency for three decades as a senior politician of the party. Despite being known for his party loyalty, Shettar joined the Congress against the political dice of the high command. He was a staunch BJP leader and had been an MLA from the BJP for six times, but he did not get a chance to contest for the seventh time. . Shettar who had handled many important responsibilities, from the BJP’s taluk unit president to the post of chief minister of the state, had attracted attention as a gentleman politician, a good administrator, and someone with an amicable nature.

Belonging to the Banajiga sub-caste of Lingayats, the entire Shettar family is loyal to the Sangh. .His father S.S. Shettar was a senior leader of the Jana Sangh. He was elected to the Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation five times and was also the “First Jana Sangh Mayor” of Hubli-Dharwad. His uncle Sadashiva Shettar was elected to the state assembly from Hubli city in 1967 and was credited with being the first Jana Sangh leader to be elected to the Legislative assembly in South India.

After being elected to the state legislative assembly for the first time in 1994, Shettar had continuously won in 1999, 2004, 2008, 2013, and 2018. He had served as Leader of the Opposition and Speaker. He had handled many portfolios and managed as Chief Minister for ten months.. Shettar, He worked as the Leader of the Opposition. He was a minister in the Kumaraswamy cabinet for 20 months when the BJP-JDS 20-20 alliance government came to power in 2006. Later, in 2008, when the BJP came to power independently, Shettar worked as assembly speaker.

Jagdish Shettar became the Rural Development Minister in 2009. In the meantime, D V Sadananda Gowda became the Chief Minister when BS Yeddyurappa resigned due to allegations of corruption. However, when he did not suit the party, Shettar became a part-time Chief Minister. As the 21st Chief Minister of the state, he was in power for only 10 months. When the Congress government came into power in 2013, Jagdish Shettar became the leader of the opposition party. Later, in 2019, after Operation lotus , he served as a minister of medium and large scale industries.

In July 2021, when Yeddyurappa stepped down from the CM seat, and Basavaraja Bommai took over as the CM. Jagdish Shettar, said he dont need ministers post. When he was preparing for the 2023 assembly elections, he was informed by the high command that party ticket will be given to new face.

As a result, Shettar rebelled and tried to create a new history by breaking away from the party he had helped build and nurtured, Soon the congress given him a ticket , eyeing to grab Lingayat voters . Though senior BJP leaders campaigned in Hubli Dharwad central his victory was expected. But the defeat has surprised many.