BELAGAVI: BJP MLC and former deputy chief minister Laxman Savadi on Thursday said that he will resign from the membership of the Legislative Council and the party in Bengaluru on Friday. He made this announcement at a meeting with his supporters in Athani on Thursday. At the meeting, his supporters in thousands suggested that he join the Congress and contest the May 10 Assembly elections. The BJP has fielded Mahesh Kumathalli from Athani, and the Congress is yet to announce its candidate.
On Thursday evening, Savadi announced that he would be resigning as a BJP member and MLC in Bengaluru on Friday. Savadi did not confirm if he would join the Congress, but said former CM Siddaramaiah helped him win the MLC polls despite the conspiracies hatched by BJP leaders.
“Despite being the leader of opposition, Siddaramaiah alerted me about the conspiracies hatched by the BJP leaders to defeat me. Siddaramaiah ensured that none of his party members created any hurdle in ensuring my victory,” he recalled. On his next move, Savadi said he would meet leaders of various parties
(Congress and JDS) in Bengaluru on Friday and take a call on which party to join.
Upset over treatment meted out to him by the BJP during his stint in the party, he said, former CM BS Yediyurappa had promised him the party ticket while requesting him to ensure the victory of party candidate Kumathalli in the last Assembly polls. “I have suffered extreme torture from the BJP leadership during my stay in the party,” he claimed.
He said the BJP leadership insulted him during the mega conventions held at Basavakalyana and Davanagere in recent times. Earlier in the day, several BJP leaders met Savadi in Athani in a last-minute attempt to prevent him from quitting the party. But Savadi’s supporters sent them away. A group of Savadi’s supporters reportedly manhandled a BJP leader from Athani, Rajesh Nerli, when he arrived at the MLC’s residence to console him.
According to the sources, Savadi is expected to meet Siddaramaiah, KPCC chief DK Shivakumar and other leaders of the Congress at the KPCC office in Bengaluru on Friday soon after quitting the BJP.
Besides giving him a party ticket from Athani, the Congress is said to have decided to give him a prominent position in the party, informed sources added.