BJP Turncoat Jagadish Shettar Blames Money Power And Pressure Tactics For His Defeat In Karnataka Polls

BJP turncoat Jagadish Shettar, who suffered a humiliating defeat in the election to Hubballi-Dharwad Central Assembly constituency, accused the saffron party of using money power, and pressure tactics to defeat him.

"Money power and pressure tactics led to his defeat from the Hubli-Dharwad Central assembly constituency. In the last six elections, I have not at all used money power and never distributed money to voters. (This is the) The first time that the BJP candidate has distributed Rs 500-1000 to voters," Shettar told news agency ANI.

"What I said earlier is that in the entire state, Congress will get a majority. In north Karnataka, wherever I went to campaign, all the Congress candidates were elected. Wherever I did not go, most of the Lingayat candidates from the Congress have been elected," he added.

Shettar claimed that he raised the issue of the BJP neglecting the Lingayat community during the campaign and that helped Congress gain 20-25 seats in the elections.

"So, the Lingayat factor, what I raised is that BJP is neglecting the leaders of the community. After going to Congress, it spread out. It helped (Congress) in almost 20-25 constituencies," he claimed.

A Lingayat heavyweight, Shettar was defeated in the Hubballi-Dharwad (Central) seat by a margin of 34,289 votes. The BJP's Mahesh Tenginakai, a debutant in electoral politics, defeated Shettar who is a six-time MLA.

Shettar quit the BJP on April 16 and resigned as Hubli-Dharwad (Central) MLA after being denied a ticket for the assembly elections.

Shettar got 60,775 votes, while Tenginkai bagged 95,064 votes in the high-stake battle. JDS candidate Siddalingeshgowda Mahanthavadeyar was in third place with 513 votes. As many as 1,251 NOTA votes were cast in the seat.

Tenginkai is considered close to BJP General Secretary (Organisation) B L Santhosh.

The 67-year-old leader had won the Hubballi-Dharwad (central) seat in 2018, beating the Congress' Mahesh Nalwad with a margin of 21,306 votes, registering his sixth win in the Assembly elections.