Union Ministers defends B L Santhosh after Shettar's allegations

With former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar blaming BJP General Secretary (Organisation) B L Santhosh for denial of the saffron party ticket to him, Union Ministers on Monday rushed to defend Santhoshsaying that he has no role in distribution of tickets in Karnataka.

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"Shettar is making a shameless attempt to deflect his blind ambition, opportunism and hypocrisy," Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar said.

"Santhoshji is our party leader who is dedicated to strengthening party organisation in Karnataka and all over India. To try and blame him is typical Rahul type politics of lies," the Minister tweeted.

"Santhoshji works as an organisation secretary in the party. Neither he is MLA or MP or Minister. He has no role in candidate selection," Union Minister for State for Agriculture Shobha Karandlaje said here.

Attacking Shettar, Shobha said "Your party flag changed, has your ideology also changed?.

Santhosh, who was deputed from RSS to the party, holds key positions in the party. He is a member of important bodies of the party including BJP Central Election Committee and BJP Parliamentary Board.