BJP leader Jagadish Shettar rejects Speaker's post

Bangalore, May 30 (UNI) Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jagadish Shettar today rejected the party's proposal to make him the Speaker of the 13th Assembly.

An irked Shettar, a former leader of the opposition, left the venue of the swearing in ceremony in a huff on realising that his name did not figure in the list ministers to be sworn in. " I am pained to see that there are attempts to impose the speakership on me. I am against such imposition," he remarked.

Later talking to UNI here Mr Shettarm, who had also been a former President of the State BJP, said he was pained to notice that an attempt was being made to sideline his prospects. However, he would continue to function as a party legislator in the Assembly, he added.

Mr Shettar represented Hubli-Dharwad Central constituency for the fourth time. He was considered responsible for winning of several BJP candidates in North Karnataka region.

He had served as the Revenue Minister in the H D Kumaraswamy coalition government.

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