People Had Voted for BJP, Not Shettar; Lingayats With Us, Says Amit Shah | Exclusive Interview

The departure of Lingayat leaders like Jagadish Shettar will have no impact on the prospects of the BJP in upcoming Karnataka elections, senior party leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah told News18 Kannada in an exclusive interview, adding that the politically significant community remains firmly with the party.

Contending that leaders like Shettar, Lakshman Savadi and Kiran Kumar left because they didn’t get tickets, Shah said: “Every leader left because they didn’t get a ticket. There are various processes in an election. Jagdish Shettar was made Chief Minister, Leader of Opposition and MLA six times by the party. He did not like Bommai becoming a minister in the Council of Ministers. If we had given tickets, would they have left the party?”

“We have a strong decision-making spirit. I know that people did not vote for Shettar’s face, but for the party. In this election, Shettar will definitely lose with less than half of the votes he got the last time. There is no confusion in my mind,” he added.

Asked whether the departures will affect Lingayat support for the BJP on May 10, the day of voting in Karnataka, Amit Shah pointed to Congress’ treatment of prominent Lingayat leaders in the past.

“What has the Congress given to the Lingayat community? It has ruled for 50 years and was twice allowed to run the government for half a term. Both times, it was humiliated and removed. Nijalingappa was insulted and removed by Indira Gandhi, and Veerendra Patil was removed by Rajiv Gandhi from an airport, that too when he was ill,” he said.

“BS Yediyurappa, a leading Lingayat leader, is leading our election campaign with great enthusiasm,” Shah added.

The politically influential Lingayat community forms about 17% of the state’s population, mostly in northern parts which the BJP counts as its strong vote-base.

Senior Lingayat leaders Jagadish Shettar and Laxman Savadi quit the BJP over denial of ticket to contest in the May 10 Assembly elections and joined the Congress. The ruling party has been on a damage control mode since then with the Congress accusing it of doing “injustice” to Lingayats and being “anti-Lingayat”.

Watch the full interview with Home Minister Amit Shah at 8pm on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@News18Kannada and on News18 Kannada TV channel.

Read all the Latest Politics News here