Amid a potential rebellion from former Karnataka chief minister Jagadish Shettar over being excluded from the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) first list of 189 candidates for the upcoming assembly elections in the state, senior party leader and Lingayat strongman B S Yediyurappa on Wednesday tried to cool things down and assured there is a 99 per cent chance he will be given a ticket.
The former CM was speaking to reporters when he said, “99 per cent Jagadish Shettar will be given an election ticket.” Shettar, a six-time MLA, had expressed his displeasure at being told that he would need to stand down to “make way for others”.
Senior BJP leader Yeddiyurappa also indicated that the party’s second list of candidates will be released by tonight. He also asserted that the BJP will win 125-130 seats out of 159. “Out of 159 seats that were announced yesterday, we will win 125-130 seats. We are happy with the announcement. We will form government in Karnataka,” he said.
The BJP has fielded 52 new faces in its first list, released on Tuesday, including those who have jumped ship recently from its rivals, which has led to discontentment from several party workers.
Ex-deputy chief minister Laxman Savadi quit the BJP earlier today on being denied a ticket, while supporters of BJP MLAs Anil Benake from Belagavi North and Mahadevappa Yadawad from Ramdurg constituency in Belagavi protested the exclusion of their candidates.
