BENGALURU: Veteran leader and BJP Parliamentary Board Member B S Yediyurappa on Thursday said that former chief minister D V Sadananda Gowda was asked by the BJP leadership not to contest in the Lok Sabha polls this time, prompting him to quit electoral politics.
In a sudden development, Gowda, a former union minister who is currently a Member of the Lok Sabha from Bangalore North, announced on Wednesday that he has decided to retire from electoral politics.
"Sadananda Gowda has got instructions from the central leadership (of BJP). He will actively participate in the party activities, but he has decided not to contest in elections," Yediyurappa, former chief minister, told reporters in response to a question on Gowda's move.
Asked whether Gowda's decision came following indications that he may not get a ticket this time, or after facing "neglect" from the high command, he said, "He (Gowda) has been told directly not to contest the polls this time. So, he has said that he has got several responsibilities from the party and there have not been any shortcomings from the party's side and that he will be involved in the party activities."
In June, Gowda had urged the party's top brass to counter speculation in some quarters that 13 incumbent BJP MPs, including himself, would not get party tickets for the Lok Sabha elections scheduled for next year, while seemingly expressing his frustration about the party doing little in this regard.
He had also recently tried to call out the party for not consulting its state leaders before forging an alliance with the JD(S), and had also lamented about the delay in appointing a leader of opposition in the Karnataka assembly.
Gowda had resigned from the Union Council of Ministers in July 2021.
Besides being the chemicals and fertilisers minister in the Narendra Modi government, Gowda has also held portfolios such as Railways, Law, and Statistics and Programme Implementation Reiterating his decision to quit electoral politics, Gowda said in the district headquarters town of Mandya on Thursday that the party has given him various responsibilities in the past 30 years and nurtured him, and it is now his duty to make way for youngsters coming into the party.
"I was national General Secretary and Vice President of the party, I was state president and played a role in bringing the party to power. For seven years in the Modi government at the centre... I was Chief Minister, Leader of the Opposition (in Council), Deputy Leader of Opposition (in Assembly). The party has given me everything," he pointed out.
Stating that he had decided to retire from electoral politics earlier, after completing 25 years in it, but on the instruction of the party had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Gowda said he is announcing retirement six months in advance so that the party can find a new face and prepare him or her for next election.
"I'm ready to serve the party in any way I'm asked to," he added.