The Hindu : Karnataka News : Shettar to work for collective leadership

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Nov 24, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka

Shettar to work for collective leadership

By Our Special Correspondent

HUBLI, NOV. 23. Jagadish Shettar, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) State unit President, said here on Tuesday that he would like to provide collective leadership for the party in the State.

Mr. Shettar was addressing his first press conference after his appointment to the post.

Mr. Shettar said that he would consult H.N. Ananth Kumar, his predecessor and national general secretary of the party, and other leaders, including B.S. Yediyurappa, and S. Bangarappa, while taking any policy initiative. He said Mr. Yediyurappa and Mr. Ananth Kumar were his gurus.

Mr. Ananth Kumar said he would take active interest in the party affairs in the State in his capacity as MP.

Earlier, Mr. Ananth Kumar said the party had placed the responsibility of leading it to power in the State on Mr. Shettar.

To a question, he said it did not mean that Mr. Shettar would be the next Chief Minister. "The responsibility placed on the shoulders of Mr. Shettar is just to turn the party from the Opposition party to a ruling one".

To another question, Mr. Shettar said the party's inability to emerge as an alternative to the Congress in the old Mysore region allowed the Janata Dal (Secular) to make substantial gains.

Mr. Shettar said that he hoped to finalise the revamping of the party's set-up and to form the executive committee within a month. He would later look into the question of strengthening the party at the district-level. Asked what changes he would like to bring in, Mr. Shettar said that he would like to give a new orientation to tackling old problems facing the organisation.

Mr. Shettar described the N. Dharam Singh-led Government as one of the weakest and the most sluggish to hold office in the State in recent years. The Chief Minister had not been able to expand the ministry and this had brought development work to a halt.

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