New Delhi: The Congress may have swept Karnataka but its last-minute embrace of BJP veteran Jagadish Shettar did not go down well with the people.
Shettar, who is a former BJP chief minister, lost his seat Hubli Dharwad Central to BJP’s Mahesh Tenginkai by a margin of 34,289 votes.
The prominent Lingayat leader and a six-time MLA, Shettar joined the Congress last month after being denied a ticket by the BJP. He accused the BJP of humiliating him, saying the party denied him a ticket even though he had no blemish on his record, no corruption charges or rowdy sheets, or ‘CDs’ (sex scandals).
“I am not after power or position. All I had asked was to continue serving my people as a legislator,” he had insisted.
Another BJP deserter Laxman Savadi, however, fared much better. Also denied a ticket, Savadi contested Athani and defeated BJP’s Mahesh Kumathalli by 76,122 votes.
Politics in northern Karnataka’s Athani has been a story of defectors in 2023. Last term, Savadi contested on a BJP ticket against then Congress candidate Kumathalli. He lost by a margin of 2,330 votes.
By 2023, both had hopped to the opposition, but Savadi emerged the winner and halted Kumathalli’s re-election bid for the third time.
Congress is likely to win 137 constituencies in the 224-seat Karnataka assembly. The outgoing BJP, which was the single-largest party in 2018 with 104 seats, could manage only 64. The Congress’s former ally Janata Dal (Secular) is likely to get 20 seats.
Also read: ‘Corruption’ tag, weak leadership, quota misfire — 5 reasons BJP lost South foothold Karnataka