Karnataka Assembly Elections 2023: Laxman Savadi makes statement of intent in Athani

After the high drama in the run up to the Assembly elections to Athani constituency, former deputy chief minister and Congress candidate Laxman Savadi made a big statement with a massive win against BJP’s Mahesh Kumathalli.

Savadi’s gambit of defecting to the Congress after being denied a ticket by the BJP, on the eve of elections, seems to have paid off. His margin of victory, against the BJP candidate and sitting Kumathalli, is significant.

Kumathalli had won as a Congress candidate in 2018 against Savadi (BJP), only retiring to join the BJP soon after. In 2019, Kumathalli even won the by-election.

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To placate Savadi, the BJP high command had named him the deputy chief minister in the B S Yediyurappa government. The party hoped that the elevation would help it garner Lingayat votes in Maharashtra’s constituencies when the state was approaching Assembly elections. However, he lost his post after Basavaraj Bommai replaced Yediyurappa as chief minister.

In a bid to stay relevant and clinch a plum post, Savadi wished to win as an MLA, in the event of the BJP coming to power again.

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Jarkiholi was instrumental in bringing Kumathalli to the BJP camp in the process of toppling the JD(S)-Congress coalition and was adamant that Kumathalli get a BJP ticket.

Not willing to antagonise Jarkiholi, the BJP named Kumathalli as its nominee from the Athani constituency.

Wasting no time, Savadi jumped ship to the Congress. The move was win-win for Savadi and Congress, which was looking for a suitable candidate to counter the BJP.

“Savadi stays in Athani and is accessible to the people of the region. Kumathalli was just fighting Jarkiholi’s proxy war against Savadi. The people of Athani did not want Jarkiholi to interfere in their constituency’s affairs. That is why Savadi got a resounding support of locals,” said Ashok Chandargi, a political observer.

Interestingly, all sub-sects of Veerashaiva-Lingayat community threw their weight behind Savadi, a Ganiga, helping him record a landslide win.