Santosh rattled the party’s high command, which was forced to deploy former Chief Minister B.S. But he had to drop out to make way for Chandrakanth Bellad, a senior Lingayat leader from the Janata Parivar. Mr. Yediyurappa, obviously did not want another Lingayat leader to emerge as his competitor and chose D.V. Mr. Shettar, an Ex-CM, chose to work as Minister under Mr. Yediyurappa, a decision criticised by many but defended by his followers. According to Mr. Shettar, he still has the strength to be in politics for another decade, no matter what happens in the election.

Source: The Hindu May 07, 2023 07:37 UTC