Ex-Karnataka Dy CM Laxman Savadi To Join Congress Today: State Party President DK Shivakumar

Sitting MLA Mahesh Kumathalli, who was backed by BJP leader and former Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi, was given a ticket in Athani in the Belagavi district.

Former Karnataka deputy chief minister Laxman Savadi will join the Congress party today, State party president DK Shivakumar said on Friday. Laxman Savadi on April 12 resigned as a Legislative Council member and from the primary membership of the BJP after he was denied the ticket from the Athani constituency. The announcement comes after he met Karnataka Congress President DK Shivakumar and former chief minister Siddaramaiah in Bengaluru.

"There is no condition. He feels that he has been humiliated. It is our duty to take such great leaders into the Congress Party. There are more than 9-10 sitting MLAs who want to join us but we don't have space to accommodate them," DK Shivakumar said, as quoted by news agency ANI.

Karnataka Election 2023: Ramesh Jarkiholi Given BJP Ticket Instead Of Savadi 

Sitting MLA Mahesh Kumathalli, who was backed by BJP leader and former Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi, was given a ticket in Athani in the Belagavi district.

Kumathalli was among the group of defectors, including Jarkiholi, who helped the BJP bring down the Congress-JD(S) coalition government and form its own under the leadership of B S Yediyurappa in 2019.

Savadi is a three-time MLA from Athani but lost in the 2018 elections to Kumathalli who was at that time in the Congress party.

"I have certainly made a decision. I have decided to resign from the primary membership of the party," Savadi, a BJP MLC, said in a press conference on April 12.

Amid speculation of joining the Congress, the 63-year-old said that he will make a "strong decision" on Thursday evening and start working on it from Friday.

He called the people of the Athani constituency and his supporters as his 'real high command' and said that the people have directed him to resign from the party as well as the MLC position.

Chief Minister Basvaraj Bommai advised him to think in a calm state of mind to realise that he has a bright future in the party.

"The party has held his hand and will continue to do so in future as well. The party will honour him," the Chief Minister said, as quoted by PTI.