In a major jolt to the BJP in the assembly poll-bound Karnataka, former Chief Minister and veteran leader Jagadish Shettar has quit the party and officially joined Congress on Monday - April 17. As Shettar was a six-time BJP MLA and Chief Minister, his new political venture has gained nationwide prominence and has become the latest in the row of shockers for the BJP, that's already bracing up the predictions that the party would lose the power. 

Ahead of Shettar's decision to cross ranks, Karnataka witnessed high-level political dramas and parleys from the saffron camp as it played out the attempts to pacify him. Shettar has publicly expressed his disappointments after the BJP central leadership didn't award a ticket for him to contest in the upcoming assembly polls. The scale of such disappointments was apparently visible within the BJP and some top leaders had already joined the Congress.

67-year-old Shettar had last week held talks with BJP National President JP Nadda during which the former shared his dissent to the latter for not awarding a seat and it gave the first hint that Shettar would rock the boat. Amidst speculations, Shettar on Sunday met Karnataka Speaker Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri and submitted his resignation as BJP MLA and went on to quit the party. While speaking to reporters, Shettar said, "There is no looking back. I will not reconsider my decision." 

Shettar belongs to prominent Lingayat community, which is a powerful vote bank for BJP, and according to reports, senior Lingayat leaders in the Congress- former ministers Shamanur Shivashankarappa and M B Patil took the task of inducting Shettar into the Congress party. Later on Sunday, after resigning as an MLA, Shettar had a meeting with senior Congress leaders Randeep Surjewala and M B Patil during which a plan was chalked to switch sides. 

Taken aback by Shettar's meeting with Congress leaders, BJP took efforts to placate Shettar - Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, Union Ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Pralhad Joshi met Shettar and held talks only to witness all of their efforts went vain. They failed to pacify Shettar and as hours passed on Sunday, it was close to confirmation that BJP has lost its big shot Shettar and he will join the Congress on Monday. 

When BJP failed in its efforts to pacify Shettar, the party had played out a different episode of attacking him. Veteran BJP leader and former Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa came down hard on Shettar and said that the party had offered a ticket to Shettar's family member and promised Shettar that he would get some other post in the party. However, Shettar declined the offer. Reacting to Yediyurappa's claim, Shettar said that Yediyurappa had been pressured by the party to attack him. 

On Monday, the stage was set for a crucial political event and Jagadish Shettar had officially joined the Congress party in the presence of Congress party's National President Mallikarjun Kharge, Karnataka Congress committee chief DK Shivakumar, senior Congress leaders Siddharamaiah and M B Patil. Shettar said that the BJP had changed from its party-first approach and had become a people-centric party. 

"The way they have treated a senior leader has hurt. I am the senior most leader after Yediyurappa. Some people were worried that I would be made leader if I became an MLA since Yediyurappa quit electoral politics. So they didn't want me to contest", Shettar added. Jagadish Shettar has held various top positions both in the BJP and in the Karnataka government. He entered the Karnataka Assembly as an MLA in 1994 after getting elected from the Hubballi-Dharwad Central constituency. 

He had served as a six-time MLA from the same constituency. Shettar had also served as the Speaker of the Karnataka Assembly and the Opposition Leader. He also had served as the minister and held several portfolios. Shettar had served as 15th Chief Minister of Karnataka from July 12, 2012 to May 13, 2013. Being known as Yediyurappa's confidante, it was Yediyurappa who proposed the name of Shettar as the Chief Minister when he was forced to step down as the Chief Minister. 

Shettar's rebellion had astonished the BJP as he had been a lieutenant for the saffron party and his resignation has become the latest in the row of shocking episodes for BJP. The BJP has determined to bring young leaders to the party by awarding them a ticket to contest in the assembly polls but the ground report shows that the party's decision got backfired as it is losing the influential and veteran leaders. Karnataka will go for a single-phase assembly poll on May 10 and the results will be declared on May 13.