A day after former Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka Laxman Savadi was denied ticket to fight the state Assembly elections, the BJP MLC announced his decision to quit the party. Savadi is a three-time MLA from Athani. However, he lost in the 2018 polls to then-Congress candidate Mahesh Kumathalli. Along with many others from Congress, Kumarthali later jumped ship to the BJP helping the party to topple the Congress-JD(S) coalition and form its government under the B S Yediyurappa in 2019.
After much delay, the BJP on Tuesday announced its first list of candidates for the May 10 polls in Karnataka. With 52 fresh faces featuring on the list, the saffron party left out some of the prominent names leaving them and their supporters disappointed. “I have certainly taken a decision. I have decided to resign from the primary membership of the party,” Savadi said in a press conference. He stated that he will make a “strong decision” on Thursday evening and will start working from Friday. He had served as the Minister for Cooperation in the Second B.S.Yeddurappa Ministry and D. V. Sadananda Gowda Government. He was elected to the legislative assembly from Athani constituency in 2004, 2008 and 2013 as a BJP candidate. On 20 August 2019 he was inducted as the Cabinet Minister in Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government led by Chief Minister B. S. Yeddyurappa. On 17 February 2020 he was elected as an MLC by securing 113 votes out of the 120 votes polled.