Hubballi, Apr 18: A day after the BJP named State BJP general secretary Mahesh Tenginkai as its candidate from Hubballi-Dharwad Central constituency, former chief minister Jagadish Shettar, who is now the Congress candidate after quitting the BJP, said on Tuesday that BJP national general secretary (organisation) B L Santosh is responsible for the BJP denying him (Shettar) the ticket.
Charging that Santosh managed to field his aides as BJP candidates across the state including his 'blue-eyed boy' Tenginkai, Shettar said Santosh and other leaders should have thought about the damage to be caused to the party's foundation if seniors like him (Shettar) who built the party are disturbed.
"I don't know why BJP's top leaders have belief in Santosh who was a failure when appointed as BJP's poll in-charge in different states. For him, the individual has become important and not the party. This will spoil BJP, and the ground reality was not conveyed to No 1 and No 2 (Narendra Modi and Amit Shah) in that party," Shettar said.
"Whispering campaign against me started several months back. I informed J P Nadda, Dharmendra Pradhan, and others about it, but they did not take it seriously. B S Yediyurappa was also helpless," he noted.
There are several examples (like Ramdas in Mysuru) of Santosh managing to field his followers replacing winnable candidates. This is going to spoil the BJP, Shettar observed.
He also said Union Minister Pralhad Joshi and Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai should have presented a strong case in favour of him before the high command instead of giving mere assurances.
"State BJP president Nalin Kumar Kateel is also Santosh's man. I was the senior most leader in BJP after B S Yediyurappa and K S Eshwarappa. Probably, that may be the reason to deny the ticket to me to prevent me from becoming an MLA. I just wanted a respectful exit from politics by becoming an MLA just for six months, but I was humiliated," he said, adding that State BJP is being controlled by only a few persons.
Opining that denial of a ticket to him would have an impact on neighbouring districts and across the state, Shettar said his task is to bring victory for Congress and to get it a clear majority.
"I am not power hungry and this would probably be my last election. As I want a respectful exit, I joined the Congress, and asked them to treat me with respect," he said.
"I am pained not just because of ticket denial, but because I was humiliated in BJP for several months. Floodgates are opened now," Shettar said.
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