Jagadish Shettar

Early life

Shettar was born on 17 December 1955 in Kerur village of Badami Taluk in Bagalkote district(formerly Bijapur district), Karnataka. His father is Sri. S.S. Shettar and his mother is Smt. Basavenamma. His father, S.S.Shettar, a senior activist of the Jana Sangh, was elected five times to the Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation and became the first Jana Sangh Mayor of Hubli-Dharwad. His uncle Sadashiv Shettar was the first Jana Sangh leader in South India to get elected to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly. He was elected from Hubli City in 1967. Shettar holds BCom and LLB degrees and was a practicing lawyer for 20 years at the Hubli Bar. He married Smt. Shilpa and the couple have 2 sons - Prashant and Sankalp.

Political career

Shettar began his public life with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad and participated actively in all its activities before becoming an active member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

In 1990, he became the President of Hubli Rural Unit of the BJP and in 1994, the Dharwad District Unit President of the party. He was elected to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly for the first time in 1994 and has been reelected as Member of the Legislative Assembly from Hubli-Dharwad central constituency for four successive terms. In 1996, he became the BJP State Secretary and in 1999, he was chosen as the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly following the defeat of the BJP in the state elections. Shettar was the Leader of Opposition when S.M. Krishna was the Chief minister and effectively discharged his duties.

In 2005, he was appointed as the State President of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Later, he went on to become the Revenue Minister in the Janata Dal (Secular)-BJP coalition government headed by HD Kumaraswamy in 2006.

In 2008, following the BJP victory in Karnataka assembly elections, Shettar was unanimously elected as the Speaker of the Karnataka legislative assembly. However, he resigned from this post in 2009 and was inducted into the cabinet of B.S. Yeddyurappa as Minister for Rural development and Panchayat Raj.

In 2011, following the resignation of B.S. Yeddyurappa, Shettar emerged as a major contender to the post of Chief Minister. However, he was defeated by D.V. Sadananda Gowda in the election to select the Leader of the BJP Legislature party. He continued to be a minister in the State government.

As one of the most influential leaders of North Karnataka region, he has been associated with many reforms including the Khalasa Banduri project, construction of Suvarna Vidhana soudha in Belgaum, establishment of South western railways headquarters in Hubli Dharwad etc.

In July 2012, several BJP MLAs owing allegiance to B.S. Yeddyurappa called for the replacement of D.V. Sadananda Gowda with Shettar. After much turmoil, the BJP High Command agreed to make him the Chief minister. He was sworn in on 12 July 2012.

2013 Assembly Elections

Ahead of assembly polls which was held in May 2013, BJP declared Shettar as its Chief Ministerial candidate for Karnataka state.

Shettar resigned as Chief Minister as BJP failed to retain its power. He submitted his resignation to the Governor of Karnataka on 8 May 2013. BJP suffered a big loss in the May 2013 assembly elections as the Congress wrested Karnataka.

Post Elections

Jagdish Shettar was elected as the leader of BJP's legislative party and Leader of opposition in Karnataka Legislative Assembly.