Former Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar, who recently re-joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from the Congress, on Saturday, February 10, said that he was ready to contest the Lok Sabha elections if the BJP high command wants him to. Speaking to reporters, Shettar expressed his readiness to contest for any parliamentary seat in the state, including the Dharwad constituency. "I will continue to work for the party. It is left to the discretion of the high command; no party leader has discussed the matter with me. The subject of meetings has been about taking everyone along, and no discussion has taken place regarding contesting the Lok Sabha election," he said.

The statement has assumed importance as the Dharwad Parliamentary seat is currently represented by Union Minister for Mines, Coal, and Law, Pralhad Joshi.

On January 25 this year, Jagadish Shettar re-joined BJP in the presence of former CM BS Yediyurappa and his son BY Vijayendra who is the BJP Karnataka president. He had earlier quit the party and joined Congress ahead of Karnataka Assembly elections on April 16, 2023. He said that the BJP had changed from its party-first approach, and had become a people-centric party. Later, when he re-joined BJP, he said that many BJP leaders, including Yediyurappa and Vijayendra, urged him to join the party.

Read: How BJP pulled off a coup in Karnataka with Jagadish Shettar’s return

(With IANS inputs)