Jagadish Shettar

Jagadish Shettar Biography

Jagadish Shettar is a senior politician from Karnataka belonging to Bharatiya Janata party. He is the Leader of Opposition in Karnataka Legislative Assembly at present. He is a former chief minister of Karnataka state too and has also served as the Speaker of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly for a couple of years (2008-2009). He is married to Shilpa Shettar and the couple has two sons. He is an atheist. Jagadish Shettar is a lawyer by profession and has practised for more than 20 years.

Shettar was bornin Kerur village of Badami Taluk in 1955. His father S. S. Shettar was an active politician and a senior activist of the Jana Sangh. He is the nephew of Sadashiv Shettar, the first leader of Jana Sangh from south India to be elected to Karnataka Legislative Assembly. Shetter holds LLB and B.Com. His active political career began in association with ABVP and very soon he became a member of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. In 1990, he became the President of Hubli Rural Unit and four years later became Dharwad District Unit President. Same year he was elected to Karnataka State legislature assembly. After that he has been reelected successively for four terms from his favourite constituency, Hubli-Dharwad central.

In 1996, he became the BJP State Secretary. In 1999 the party witnessed a defeat in assembly elections and he served as Leader of opposition. In 2005, he became the State president of BJP. The following year he became Revenue Minister in the Janata Dal-BJP coalition government. In 2008 following the victory of BJP in state assembly elections, he became the Speaker. But he resigned the post following his induction to cabinet ministry.Following the resignation of B.S. Yeddyurappa in 2011, he was the strongest contender of Chief Minister Post. But he couldn’t win it. In May 2013 he was elected as the 21st Chief Minister of Karnataka.

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Updated: May 19, 2014