Karnataka's former chief minister Jagadish Shettar rejoined the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) on January 25, nine months after switching to the Congress. The 68-year-old Shettar, a staunch RSS man and a senior BJP leader, switched to the Congress after he was denied a ticket during the 2023 assembly election.

       Lingayat leader Jagadish Shettar has contested the 2023 Karnataka Assembly Elections as a Congress candidate from Hubli-Dharwad-Central. Shettar suffered defeat. He was beaten by the BJP's Mahesh Tenginakai by over 34,000 votes, after which he blamed "money power and pressure tactics".

       On Thursday afternoon, he reached the BJP headquarters where he was welcomed back to the party in the presence of former CM BS Yediyurappa and state BJP President BY Vijayendra.

       "Today, it is good news for us that Jagadish Shettar has again joined the BJP leaving Congress MLC post. We welcome him to the party," said Union minister Bhupendra Yadav.

       “The party gave me a lot of responsibilities in the past. Because of some issues, I went to the Congress party. In the last 8-9 months, there were a lot of discussions in the BJP. Karnataka BJP leaders and workers asked me to come back to the BJP. Yediyurappa ji and Vijayendra ji also wanted me to come back to the BJP. I am rejoining the party with the belief that Narendra Modi ji has to become the PM again," Jagadish Shettar said as he rejoined.

       Jagadish Shettar met party president JP Nadda in Delhi.