Despite being a leader who occupied the posts of the Chief Minister of Karnataka, albeit for a few months, the leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly twice, and also the Speaker, Jagadish Shettar, 67, has always carried the image of a humble, down-to-earth politician who is accessible to all. However, in the run--up to the Assembly election, the people of Karnataka saw him in an avatar that was contrary to their general belief.
They saw a fiery rebel, who had the gumption to disobey the diktat of the party that he served for nearly three decades. His rebellion ultimately resulted in him quitting the BJP and switching over to a party (Congress) against which he had been fighting relentlessly.
By his switch over, Mr. Shettar no doubt delivered a sudden blow to the saffron party and which has the potential to alter the political equations at least in a few pockets of north Karnataka, where members of his community, Banajiga Lingayats, and the larger community of Lingayats reside. Mr. Shettar’s parting attack on BJP’s national organising secretary B.L. Santosh rattled the party’s high command, which was forced to deploy former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, the party’s Lingayat face, as troubleshooter in order to placate community members.
