BENGALURU: Calling Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar his political 'guru', Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA ST Somashekar Gowda said his growth in the cooperative sector is because of the Congress leader.

“If I’ve grown in the cooperative sector, it’s because of my 'guru' DK Shivakumar who helped me. I wasn’t given a JP Nagar block, DK Shivakumar made me joint secretary of JP Nagar. From there he gave me his support. He also made me the candidate for the Uttarahalli Assembly constituency,” ST Somashekar Gowda, a former Congress leader and currently serving as BJP MLA said on Thursday.

The remarks from the BJP leader came three months after the Congress party’s spectacular victory in Legislative Assembly elections.

Somashekar was among 14 Congress MLAs who threw their weight behind the BJP helping BS Yediyurappa to install the BJP government in the state in 2019.

Other than 14 Congress MLAs, there were three JD(S) MLAs who quit their party which led to the collapse of the JD(S)-Congress government in that year.

However, being asked about Somashekar Gowda's statement, Karnataka former chief minister Basavraj Bommai said that he will talk to an ‘agitated’ leader and will sort out the issues.

"See I'm telling you because of some local issues ST Somashekar is a little agitated. I agree but it can be sorted out very quickly and I'm sure that I'll talk to him and see that all the issues are sorted out,” Bommai told ANI on Thursday.