The return of Lingayat leader, Jagdish Shettar, to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) fold, within nine months of joining the Congress, has come as a setback for the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah-led ruling party in Karnataka.

Barely 24 hours before his ‘ghar wapsi’ Shettar had assured state Congress chief and Deputy Chief Minister, D. K. Shivakumar, that he was not interested in returning to the BJP, even though the party was making a desperate attempt to woo him back.

Therefore, Shivakumar’s exasperation at the turn of events was evident during his interaction with the media. “I believed Shettar when he said that Congress had given him a rebirth and, therefore, there was no question of rejoining his parent party notwithstanding the pressure he was facing,” the visibly upset Congress leader admitted.

It is not surprising, therefore, to find that the governing party is finding it difficult to stomach the ‘Shettar shocker’. Meanwhile, the BJP is obviously not hiding its glee.

This also explains why Shivakumar wasted no time in rushing immediately to another BJP deserter and former Deputy CM, Laxman Savadi, who too had joined the Congress just before the Assembly polls last year.

A desperate Congress did not want to be taken by surprise again, something it feels assured about, at least for now, after Savadi’s commitment to the party. This explains Shivakumar’s statement that “none of the leaders would leave the Congress party” and that Shettar quitting “was a different issue.”

Nevertheless, a ruffled Congress is not taking things for granted, evident from the warning that Mallikarjun Kharge, its national president, issued in Bengaluru, on January 26. While unfurling the national flag at the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee’s office, he urged partymen to verify the intent of Opposition leaders before inducting them. An obvious rebuke to the embarrassed state leaders.

However, for those in the know, Shettar’s return to his ‘parent party’ does not come as a surprise. This is because the Lingayat leader has his roots deeply entrenched in the BJP. His uncle and father had served the RSS and the BJP for decades with distinction.

Shettar owes a lot to the BJP, and was the CM in the party’s government between 2012-2013. This inevitably prompts the question: why did he jump the ship last year?

The answer is simple: he was miffed with the BJP, particularly former CM and Lingayat leader, B. S. Yeddiyurappa, for not helping him get a ticket to contest the 2023 Assembly polls. His visit to meet the party president, J. P. Nadda in Delhi, did not help either.

An upset Shettar, decided to jump ship by joining the Congress, an alternative that was dictated more out of spite, anger and bitterness. The denial of a ticket to fight the Assembly polls, his close associates had told this writer at that time, had “clouded Shettar’s thinking”.

According to them, all Shettar wanted was to “hurt the party that he and his family had nurtured, for sidelining him”. The Congress could not have asked for more.

Ironically though , while Shettar’s defection to the Congress cost the BJP heavily in the polls, he lost the Hubli-Dharwad seat by over 34,000 votes. That too to BJP’s Mahesh Tenginkai, a comparatively ‘rookie’ candidate.

Shettar’s defeat was largely attributed to the determined efforts of the vengeful party strongman, B. S. Yeddyurappa, who reportedly could not come to terms with Shettar ‘s desertion when the BJP wanted him the most.

Despite his loss, the Congress treated the Lingayat leader with respect, even making him a member of the Legislative Council. Naturally, therefore, the party is now finding it difficult to reconcile with his move.

Shettar’s followers, however, believe that their leader felt that the Congress was “not utilising his services properly”. According to them, Shettar was also unhappy at the way CM Siddaramaiah had “made him wait for a long time” when he had gone to meet him recently. Or, perhaps, he wanted more than the post of an MLC.

Accordingly, when the BJP opened its channels to woo him back, with Yeddyurappa and his son and newly elected state president of the party, Vijayendra, playing a major role, it was not difficult for Shettar to make up his mind.

This was something he was quick to admit. On January 26, he told partymen at the state BJP office that “without their efforts, it would not have been possible for me to come back so early.”

Shettar also referred to the Ram temple movement, in which he claimed to have played a major role, especially in organising funds and the Rath Yatra undertaken by party leader, L. K. Advani.

“We collected Rs 2 crore in Hubbali .Now that the temple is built, I wanted to be here,” Shettar claimed.

Shettar’s desertion apart, the Ayodhya event , in particular, has rattled the Karnataka Congress. Siddaramaiah, a proclaimed atheist, publicly asserted that he was not a non-believer. He said this at a function to inaugurate a Ram-Sita temple in a village near Bengaluru on January 23. Siddaramaiah, reportedly, even chanted “Jai Shri Ram,” along with the public.

The BJP was quick to ridicule Siddaramaiah, considering that he had refused to declare a holiday for the Ayodhya event on January 22.

The forthcoming Lok Sabha polls have played a major role in the flip flop being witnessed in the Congress party whose central leaders had decided to skip the invitation to be at the consecration ceremony at Ayodhya. According to party sources, many Congressmen were not happy about this refusal.

The BJP appears to have capitalised on this, indicated by Shettar’s successful wooing. The party feels that he could play a major role in helping the party in the forthcoming Parliamentary polls. The BJP seeks to reiterate its faith in the dominant Lingayat community for support.

It has also aligned with the Janata Dal-Secular (JDS), and will contest the elections together. This also explains the role played, albeit quietly, by former Prime Minister and JDS leader, H. D. Deve Gowda, and his son, H. D. Kumaraswamy, in influencing Shettar’s return.

Predictably, the BJP and the JDS are even more confident now of wooing Savadi as also other Congress old timers into their fold.

In this context, the recent statement by senior Congress leader, and MLA, Shamanur Shivashankarappa, is important. He urged the voters of Shivamogga to re-elect BJP MP, B . Y. Raghavendra, considering the “good work that he had done for his constituency.”

Raghavendra, is Yeddyurappa’s second son. Predictably, his statement has caused acute embarrassment to the Congress. A few days ago, Shivashankarappa, an octogenarian Lingayat leader, had also hit the headlines after he alleged that officials from his community were not getting their due in government jobs.

This had riled his party colleague CM Siddaramaiah. Shivashankarappa is also the National President of the All India Veerashaiva Lingayat Mahasabha .

In the midst of these developments, the Congress continues to be wary of BJP’s “Operation Lotus” as the Lok Sabha poll approaches. Largely because former BJP CM, Basvaraj Bommai, has now gone on the offensive to claim that many prominent Lingayat leaders, including those from the Congress, will be joining the BJP soon.

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