Bengaluru: Jagadish Shettar, after having lost the Hubli-Dharwad Central seat to BJP’s Mahesh Tenginakai by nearly 32,000 votes, claimed “money power” contributed to his defeat. A Lingayat leader, Shettar had called it quits with the Bharatiya Janata Party in April after he was denied a ticket to contest the Karnataka Assembly polls.

Speaking to media after elections results were declared on Saturday, Jagadish Shettar said, “Money power has played a very important role.” He also said that the “money factor” could change a lot in present times and mentioned a trend “which began last time” where in Rs 500-1000 were “distributed” among voters by the BJP. Also, dubbing his dissociation with the saffron party as a step towards the recognition and welfare of Lingayat community, he implied that the BJP did not do enough for them.

The BJP turncoat’s defeat came on a day when a resurgent Congress clinched a record victory in Karnataka, amounting to a much-needed morale-booster for the party going into the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Shettar announced his resignation from the BJP last month after he was denied a ticket for the May 10 elections. A day later, the 67-year-old joined the Congress in the presence of party president Mallikarjun Kharge, the party’s Karnataka president DK Shivakumar and Congress leaders Randeep Surjewala and Siddaramaiah in Bengaluru.

At the time of dissociation with the BJP, the Lingayat strongman said that he felt “humiliated” by the treatment meted out to him by higher-ups in the party. Shettar was the leader of the opposition when the Congress was in power in Karnataka previously.