DK Shivakumar accuses BJP of wooing Cong leaders day after Jagadish Shettar's return to saffron party

These comments came a day after former Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar returned to the BJP after resigning from the Congress party.

He had joined the Congress ahead of the 2023 Karnataka assembly poll last year after being denied a ticket by the BJP.

Shivakumar, however, hinted that he is also not keeping quiet and several BJP leaders who want to join the Congress are in talks with him.

The Karnataka Congress President did not disclose the names of the BJP leaders who have been in touch with him. "Should I read the list...let's not do it now."

He also said that the Congress gave Shettar a ticket to contest the assembly election by sacrificing party loyalists, and yet his party made him an MLC.

"We were aware of BJP leaders contacting him from the last two or three months, and he kept saying he would not go. The day before yesterday I had spoken to him, but all of a sudden, he announced quitting the party," the DyCM said.

Shivakumar said Shetar's resignation from the Congress will not have any bearing, and on the contrary, the party leaders are happy over his desertion to the BJP.

Congress will give the seat vacated by Shettar to a loyal Congress worker, he added.

However, Shivakumar said that Laxman Savadi who had joined the Congress ahead of the last state assembly election will remain with his party.

Taking a dig at JDS and its leader HD Kumaraswamy for aligning with BJP, the Deputy Chief Minister accused them of bringing down the Congress-JDS government with the saffron party's help.

"Kumaraswamy has become the spokesperson of the BJP," he alleged.