Former Karnataka Deputy CM Laxman Savadi on Wednesday resigned as the Legislative Council member and from the primary membership of the BJP after losing the Athani constituency ticket. The southern state is scheduled to go to polls on May 10.
Laxman Savadi failed to figure in the BJP's first list of 189 candidates for the Karnataka elections. Notably, Laxman Savadi, the latest revolt in the BJP, is a loyalist of former Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa and a powerful Lingayat leader. In the 2018 election, he had lost to the Congress candidate. "I have made my decision. I am not the one who goes around with a begging bowl. I am a self-respecting politician. I am not acting under the influence of anyone," he says.
On Tuesday, former Karnataka Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar said he has been asked by the BJP central leadership not to contest the May 10 Assembly elections, to which he has informed the party top brass of his displeasure with the decision. Before him, another senior leader, KS Eshwarappa, announced that he was retiring from electoral politics.
