Karnataka polls: Denied ticket, BJP leader quits, another ‘pained’

The BJP gave a ticket in Athani in Belagavi district to sitting MLA Mahesh Kumathalli, who is among the group of defectors who helped the party bring down the Congress-JD(S) coalition government in 2019

Former deputy chief minister Laxman Savadi on Wednesday announced his decision to resign from primary membership of the BJP, a day after the ruling party denied him a ticket to contest in the May 10 Karnataka Assembly elections.

The BJP gave a ticket in Athani in Belagavi district to sitting MLA Mahesh Kumathalli, who is among the group of defectors who helped the party bring down the Congress-JD(S) coalition government in 2019.

Savadi is a three-time MLA from Athani, but lost in the 2018 elections to Kumathalli (then in the Congress). Amid speculation that he may join the Congress, the 63-year-old added that he will make a “strong decision” on Thursday evening and start working on it from Friday. Reacting to Savadi’s announcement, CM Basavaraj Bommai asked him not to take any decision in a hurry.

Also Read: Karnataka Assembly elections: EC to set ball rolling on April 13

Meanwhile, Udupi MLA Raghupati Bhat said he was pained by the treatment meted out to him by the BJP. “I am not sad over the party’s decision, but I am pained by the way the party has treated me,” Bhat told reporters and broke into tears.

He said not even the district unit president of the party had called to inform him about the party’s decision and he came to know of it from TV channels. Bhat said it appeared that the BJP did not need people like him who “worked tirelessly”, as the party had grown everywhere.

Bhat said he was so shocked that he could not take an immediate decision on his next course of action.

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