BJP MP Mangala Angadi has welcomed the party high command’s decision to field the former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar in her place from the Belagavi Lok Sabha constituency.
“Recently, BJP national president Jagat Prakash Nadda visited our house in Belagavi. We requested him to give ticket to our family. He has fulfilled our wish. We are happy,” Ms. Angadi said. Her daughter Shraddha Angadi is married to Mr. Shettar’s son Sankalp Shettar, a businessman.
The 69-year-old Mr. Shettar comes from a family with deep connections to Hindutva politics. His father Shivappa Shettar was a Jan Sangh leader and a member of the Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation. His relative Sadashiv Shettar was a Jan Sangh MLA from Hubballi in 1967. Apart from being Chief Minister for a year, Jagadish Shettar has been a Minister and Speaker.
Born in Kerur in the erstwhile undivided Bijapur district, he grew up in Hubballi. He completed his B.Com and LL.B and practised law before entering politics. The leader belongs to the Banajiga sub-caste among Lingayats, the same caste group as that of the Angadi family.
Now, he is pitted against Mrinal Hebbalkar, son of Minister Lakshmi Hebbalkar, a Panchamasali Lingayat leader. Some party leaders argue that though the Banajiga Lingayats command a lot of clout due to their investments in cooperative societies and educational institutions, the number of Panchamasali voters in the district is higher.
The Panchamasali community has in the recent times seen an unprecedented level of mobilisation for the community’s demand for inclusion in the 2A backward classes reservation category.
Mr. Shettar’s candidature has elicited different reactions from party workers and internet users. After his name came into consideration, some local leaders opposed it.
Senior leaders, including Rajya Sabha member Iranna Kadadi and MLA Abhay Patil, held a meeting at the house of the former MP Prabhakar Kore. Aspirants like Mahantesh Kavatagimath, the former MLA Anil Benake and others attended. They also led a delegation to Bengaluru where they met State unit president B.Y. Vijayendra, the former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa and national general secretary in-charge of Karnataka affairs Radha Mohan Das Agarwal.
While these leaders did not oppose Mr. Shettar openly, the former Minister and BJP MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi did. He openly said that he was rooting for a local candidate and would not like it if any outsider was thrust upon them. He also met different leaders in Bengaluru. But their pleas remained unheard.
Meanwhile, Mr. Shettar remained confident.
Party sources say that when Mr. Shettar quit the Congress to come back to the BJP, he had sought a Lok Sabha ticket from Dharwad. Union Home Minister and former national president of the party Amit Shah assured him of party ticket but also advised him to think of a constituency later.
“Mr. Shettar’s demand from Haveri was also not heeded to. He must have finally accepted Belagavi thinking that his ties to the Angadi family will help him. We have no problem with Mr. Shettar as an individual. He is a simple and accommodating person. He is also accessible. But we wanted a local leader to be nominated,” said a BJP leader who was a member of the delegation that went to Bengaluru.
The BJP has held all these three Lok Sabha seats for over two decades now.
Reactions from the electorate have been interesting. Someone put up posters in three prominent places, in Kannada, describing Mr. Shettar as the in-law of Ms. Shraddha Angadi who is welcome for lunch but not as a party candidate for the Lok Sabha elections. The BJP local unit complained to the district administration against these posters. They have been removed now.
Some net users started an online campaign #Shettargoback. They argued that Mr. Shettar and Union Minister Pralhad Joshi have diverted several projects sanctioned by the Union and State governments for Belagavi to Hubballi-Dharwad.
They also said that even if Mr. Shettar were to be elected, he is likely to stay in Hubballi and concentrate on the development of the twin cities rather than Belagavi.
Mr. Shettar has denied these allegations and said that if elected, he will work for Belagavi considering it as his Karma Bhoomi.
