"Congress Like Ocean, Is Unaffected": DK Shivakumar On Jagdish Shettar's Exit

After former Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar returned to the BJP barely months after joining Congress, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Friday likened the Congress to an ocean and said that the exit of one individual does not make any difference to the party.

Speaking to reporters at the KPCC office, he said, "The Congress party is an ocean. It stays unaffected irrespective of anyone joining or leaving. Many people are looking forward to joining Congress too."

DK Shivakumar further claimed that despite the BJP trying to establish contact with him for the last 2-3 months, Mr Shettar was determined to stay in the party for a couple of days.

"Jagadish Shettar had joined the Congress after his disillusionment with the internal affairs of the BJP. He had even made big accusations against the BJP. We had accommodated him as an MLC despite his loss by 35,000 votes in the last assembly elections. Despite the BJP trying to establish contact with him for the last 2-3 months, Mr Shettar was determined to stay in the party till a couple of days," he said.

"We had accommodated him with a long-term view. Congress party leaders and workers from the Belagavi district are happy about his exit. The MLC seat that is vacated after his exit will be given to a loyal party worker," he added.

Asked if the Congress party will take in only those who come based on ideology, he said, "Anything can happen in politics. We had supported the JDS to keep the BJP away. But today he has joined hands with the BJP, which brought down his government. Both JDS and Kumaraswamy are working as spokespersons of the BJP today. Everyone knows the language Kumaraswamy used against the BJP when his government was brought down. Today's politics is shameful. Power comes and goes but we need to do clean politics."

Referring to AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge's comments that the party should induct only those who are aligned with the party ideology, Shivakumar said, "We will certainly follow the instructions of our senior leaders."

On being asked if the BJP would try to bring down the Congress government in the state post the Lok Sabha elections, the Deputy Chief Minister said, "The BJP may be in that situation post the elections. I don't think anything will happen to the Congress government."

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)