Soft shettar, hard job

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The first election that Mr Jagadish Shettar ever contested was for class representative when doing his B.Com at the Jagadguru Gangadhar College of Commerce in 1973-74. He went on to win that election defeating two of his fellow classmates by a huge margin.

“Jagadish Shettar has always been soft-spoken and never made enemies of any of his classmates. These qualities helped him win the college elections against two other students who were from economically stronger backgrounds,” recounts Mr Ramesh Shetty who was Mr Shettar's classmate right from class VIII to college where he did his LLB.

Calling him the ‘Vajpayee of Karnataka’, his high school teacher, Niranjan Valishettar, says like the former Prime MInister, Mr Shettar is simple, but has a strong vision. “I have not seen any change in his temperament even after he become MLA and minister,” he said.

Retired lecturer R. Nataraj, who taught Mr Shettar at the J G Commerce College, feels the move to brand him a Lingayat leader is a fallacy as he has the ability to take everyone along with him when making decisions. “Being from an RSS background, he is disciplined and humble. His elevation to the CM post is indispensable to ensuring the overall development of North Karnataka,” he asserted. Recalling that he often tried to act as bridge between lecturers and students in college, using his leadership qualities, Mr Nataraj believes he will provide the healing touch the BJP needs to undo the damage done to its image as a result of corruption and infighting in its ranks.

Hubli looks to brighter future
The twin cities of Hubli-Dharwad which have been on the fast track to development since Mr Jagadish Shettar became minister, are looking forward to even more growth now that he is all set to become Chief Minister. Ever since the Nano car manufacturing unit moved out of Dharwad owing to its lack of infrastructure, Mr Shettar has given top priority to providing it all basic facilities, so much so that it could become the first city in the country to have 24X7 drinking water supply. The round-the-clock water supply which is provided to eight wards of the twin cities currently, could be extended to all 67 wards with the help of special grants from the state government after Mr Shettar becomes Chief Minister.

“We are planning to implement the regular water supply project in all wards in a phased manner with financial help from the State government. The bottlenecks will be cleared as Mr Shettar is all set to become CM. Hubli-Dharwad could also become a major industrial hub as it has already received Rs 300 crore during the last three years for infrastructure growth,” says mayor Pandurang Patil. Work is also underway on a19-km stretch of the old national highway between Hubli-Dharwad at a cost of Rs 170 crore to ease the traffic between the twin cities. The Hubli international airport too could take shape soon as nearly 700 acres have been handed over to the Airport Authority of India for the project .As an offshoot the value of residential plots in the vicinity has skyrocketed and real estate is booming in the area.

“We used to get a mere Rs 10 crore grant from the government every year. But since Mr Shettar became minister, we have received a lot more funds. Once Hubli-Dharwad are brought under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission Union (JNNURM) their infrastructure will improve even more, ” adds the mayor.