The Congress is already considering rehabilitating former Karnataka chief minister Jagadish Shettar who lost his Assembly seat that he had fought on a party ticket after quitting the BJP.

Last month, Shettar severed his four decades of association with the Sangh parivar and joined the Congress, dealing a big blow to the BJP, but failed to wrest his Hubli-Dharwad Central Assembly seat. He lost to Mahesh Tenginakai of the BJP by 34,053 votes.

Laxman Savadi, another prominent Lingayat leader who left the BJP along with Shettar, won handsomely on a Congress ticket from Athani in Belgaum and is poised to be included in the state cabinet.

Both leaders were miffed at the BJP denying them tickets before making a swift move to the Congress that took their old party by surprise.

"We will certainly rehabilitate him by most likely inducting him into the Legislative Council. My information is that he will be included in the cabinet to be formed once the Congress Legislature Party leader is named,” a senior Congress functionary, who declined to be named, told The Telegraph on Monday.

He said that Shettar’s image as a clean and non-controversial politician known for his secular credentials would be in good stead in the Lok Sabha polls.

"Our effort now is to maintain the Lingayat votes that helped us win several seats in northern Karnataka districts. Leaders like Shettar would be great assets to hold on to the community, especially in view of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls,” said the leader.

Another option was to field Shettar in the Lok Sabha election from Dharwad against Union minister Prahlad Joshi. "But that’s an option which will take several months to crystallise. The immediate plan is to elect him to the council,” he said.

Shettar blamed the money power of the BJP that was bent on defeating him on his home turf. "I have never distributed money for votes in any of the six elections (I contested as a BJP candidate). But this time the BJP candidate distributed notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 to lure voters,” Shettar told reporters in Hubli on Sunday.

He has already resolved to continue working for the Congress and never to return to the BJP.