Former Karnataka Chief Minister Rejoins BJP Months After Switching To Congress (Photo on X Jagadish Shettar @JagadishShettar)

Lingayat leader and former Karnataka chief minister Jagadish Shettar returned to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after quitting it and joining Congress ahead of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly election in May last year. Mr Shettar had joined Congress after he was allegedly denied ticked by the BJP during the last state election.

However, Jagadish Shettar came to the BJP headquarters in Delhi today (Thursday) along with the former Karnataka chief minister and BJP leader B. S. Yediyurappa to rejoin the party after 7 months. Shettar joined the saffron party in the presence of B S Yediyurappa, Union ministers Bhupender Yadav and Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Karnataka BJP president B Y Vijayendra and the BJP media head Anil Baluni.

Mr Shettar after joining Congress had lost the last legislative election against the BJP candidate. With the former chief minister joining the BJP, he is quitting his current role as a member of the legislative council (MLC) in the Congress government in Karnataka.

According to a report citing party sources, Mr Shettar had met the Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the BJP national president JP Nadda before he decided to return to the party, Hindustan Times reported.

Alleging the BJP for desperately trying to woo leaders to the party, the Karnataka deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar said that the BJP do not have candidates for the upcoming general election. “This is a tell-tale sign of weakness in the party. They don’t have candidates for the upcoming general elections,” the deputy chief minister said.

After joining the BJP, Mr Shettar said that he is returning to the BJP with the belief that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will become the Prime Minister again. “The party gave me a lot of responsibilities in the past. Because of some issues, I went to the Congress party. In the last 8-9 months, there were a lot of discussions in the BJP. Karnataka BJP leaders and workers asked me to come back to the BJP. Yediyurappa ji and Vijayendra ji also wanted me to come back to the BJP. I am rejoining the party with the belief that Narendra Modi ji has to become the PM again,” Shettar said.