The former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar, who held Industries and Commerce portfolio under B.S. Yediyurappa till Monday, opted out of the ministerial race on Wednesday by announcing that he would not like to be a member of the Cabinet led by Basavaraj Bommai.
When quizzed as to why he worked as a Minister under Mr. Yediyurappa despite being a former Chief Minister and does not want to do so under Mr. Bommai, Mr. Shettar told The Hindu : “Mr. Yediyurappa is our tallest leader under whom all of us grew in politics. I had worked as a Minister under him earlier, so I had no issues. But Mr. Bommai worked in my Cabinet as a Minister and it won’t be nice for me to work in his Cabinet. So I have opted out.” He added that he would work for the party organisation.
Mr. Shettar also said this was not related to the recent audio clip allegedly of party State unit president Nalin Kumar Kateel, where a person is heard saying “Jagadish Shettar and [K.S.] Eshwarappa teams won’t make it to the next Cabinet.”