A day after former Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi was reportedly denied ticket to contest in the upcoming elections, the BJP MLC announced that he is resigning from the party.
“I have certainly taken a decision. I have decided to resign from the primary membership of the party,” the three-time MLA from Athani said at a press conference, and asserted that he will take a “strong decision” on Thursday evening, and will start working on it from Friday.
After much delay, the BJP released its first list of candidates for the May 10 elections on Tuesday. The results for the 224-member Karnataka Assembly elections will be declared on May 13.
In the 2018 Karnataka Assembly elections, Savadi had lost to Congress candidate Mahesh Kumathalli. Along with many others from Congress, Kumarthali later jumped ship to the BJP helping the party to topple the Congress-JD(S) coalition and form its government under B S Yediyurappa in 2019.
The party has now fielded Kumathali, who is a confidante of Savadi’s arch rival and BJP MLA Ramesh Jarkiholi, from the Athani seat.
Reportedly, there is likelihood that Savadi might join the Congress party. However, Karnataka Congress president D K Shivakumar has said that Savadi has not spoken to him. “He is neither in touch with me nor he has spoken with me,” ANI quoted Shivakumar as saying.
Earlier, expressing disappointment, former Karnataka Chief Minister and six-time MLA Jagadish Shettar on Tuesday said that he will contest “at any cost”, after reportedly being denied ticket.
“I am totally disappointed. I have worked for the party for more than 30 years and have built it. They could have intimated me 2-3 months ago and I would have accepted it. But with a few days before filing the nominations, I have been intimated to not contest. I have already started campaigning in the constituency,” Shettar, a six-time MLA, said.
