Shettar is no Johnny come lately

From a humble advocate to becoming the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister, Jagadish Shettar has come a long way in Karnataka politics. He hails from a family of politicians. His father, S S Shettar was elected five times to the Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation as councillor from Jan Sangh. His uncle Sadashiv Shettar was the first Jana Sangh leader in the South to get elected to the State Legislative Council from Hubli City in 1967.

Born on December 17, 1955, in Kerur village of Badami Taluk in Bagalkot district, Karnataka, Shettar was a practicing lawyer for 20 years at the Hubli Bar. His political journey began with the ABVP and later joined the RSS.

He was elected to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly for the first time in 1994 and was re-elected as MLA from Hubli rural constituency for four successive terms. In 1999, he was chosen as the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly. In 2005, he became the state BJP President. Later, he went on to become the Revenue Minister in the JD(S)-BJP coalition government. In 2008, Shettar was 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.