Laxman Savadi to quit BJP after being denied ticket for Karnataka elections

Upset over not being given a party ticket for the upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections, BJP leader Laxman Savadi announced on Wednesday that he would resign from the primary membership of the saffron party and as an MLC.

Sitting MLA Mahesh Kumathalli was given ticket in Athani in Belagavi district. Savadi is a three-time MLA from Athani, but he lost in the 2018 elections to Kumathalli (then in the Congress).

"I have certainly taken a decision. I have decided to resign from the primary membership of the party," Savadi said in a press conference. He added that he will take a "strong decision" on Thursday evening and will start working from Friday.

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Savadi told reporters that the BJP when he joined was different than the one at present.

He expressed gratitude towards leaders and BJP workers who cooperated with him over the last 20 years and wished them success in all their endeavours.

Stating that the treatment meted out to him by the BJP was not acceptable, Savadi said that seniors in the party could have told him five to six months back that he would not be the party's Assembly election candidature from Athani.

He further said that it was him and C C Patil who brought Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai to the BJP while he was on his way to the Congress. "We took Bommai to Yediyurappa’s residence, got him an Assembly seat candidature and he became a minister and later a chief minister," he said.

He claimed that after the announcement of the BJP's candidates list, leaders of different political parties contacted him to join them. "Bharamgouda (Raju) Kage, who was earlier with the BJP, has invited me to the Congress," he stated.