On Tuesday, Congress leader Jagadish Shettar claimed that BJP general secretary BL Santhosh plotted against him and was the reason for his resignation from the BJP ahead of the Karnataka Assembly election. Former Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar, who dumped the BJP and joined the Congress ahead of high-stakes Assembly polls, said BJP general secretary BL Santhosh was behind his exit from the party. The 67-year-old Lingayat leader stated that BL Santhosh conspired against him, humiliated him by denying him a ticket to contest the election. It is to be noted that the decision to part ways with the BJP came after the six-time MLA, a former Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, ex-Speaker and a party president in the past, was denied a ticket to contest from the Hubli-Dharwad (Central) segment, which he represented in the outgoing Lower House. "Despite losing the minister post [in the Basavaraj Bommai government], I worked hard. Just to get a ticket for Mahesh Tenginkai BL Santhosh conspired against me," Shettar said. Mahesh Tenginkai will contest from the Hubli-Dharwad Central Assembly segment, which was represented by Jagadish Shettar. In Mysuru district's Krishnaraja Assembly segment a new face, Srivatsa, was given the ticket as the party dropped four-time MLA S A Ramadas. "Look what happened to Ramadas. Just because he is not a BL Santhosh loyalist, they dropped him. Srivasta was given the ticket," Shettar said. "BL Santhosh was given charge of Kerala and he did not even win a single seat. He was made in-charge of Tamil Nadu. The BJP only won a few seats. He was in-charge of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. See the condition of the party there. A person who failed in these states is giving advice to number one and two of the party," Shettar added. Karnataka votes on May 10 and results will be out on May 13.
