Shivakumar hits back at Shettar over Belagavi event

NT Correspondent

Belagavi: Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar hit back against BJP MP Jagadish Shettar over his comments on the Congress programmes slated for January 21 in the Belagavi. Shettar, the Belagavi MP, had been referring to the Mahatma Gandhi statue at the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha outside the north Karnataka city. The other event is the “Jai Bapu, Jai Bheem, Jai Saviddhan” (Victory to Gandhi, Ambedkar and the Constitution) programme, which will also take place in Belagavi on January 21.

The programme was scheduled for December 27 but it was postponed after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh died on December 26. Shettar had remarked that the pictures of Congress leaders had taken precedence over that of Gandhi himself, despite the programmes being about the latter. “Congress is doing a fair with government’s money,” the MP added. Shivakumar shot back by suggesting that Shettar, despite being the Belagavi MP, didn't visit Belagavi. Shettar, a former CM, is based in Hubballi. “If Jagadish Shettar comes here, we’ll take him on a tour of Belagavi. We will show him what kind of preparation we have undertaken and where. Let us go through the speeches he gave after he left the BJP for the Congress,” he said. He was referring to Shettar leaving the BJP for Congress in April 2023 after he was denied the saffron party ticket for his seat Hubballi-Dharwad Central.

Shivakumar made the remarks outside the residence of former Congress MLA from Belagavi North Feroze Sait in Hanuman Nagar the north Karnataka city. He was joined by Higher Education Minister MV Sudhakar, Belagavi North MLA Asif Sait, who is Feroze’s brother, Women and Child Development Minister’s brother and others. The meeting comes in the backdrop of tensions between Shivakumar and minister Satish Jarkiholi.