Bengaluru: Days after the BJP dropped him as a candidate in Karnataka, a senior leader jumped ship and joined the Congress.
Former Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi met with state Congress chief DK Shivakumar and former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in Bengaluru this morning. The meeting took place at Siddaramaiah’s home.
Laxman Savadi quit the BJP on Wednesday, a day after the BJP announced its first lot of candidates for the May 10 Karnataka election.
Sources say the Congress may field Mr Savadi, whose exit may be a setback for the BJP.
“He is a seasoned, very senior leader. It was a social meeting. We will let you know,” said Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala on the meeting.
Mr Savadi was one of the BJP’s most senior Lingayat leaders in Karnataka after former Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa.
The 63-year-old three-time MLA declared on Wednesday that he had “made a strong decision” and had started working on it, without revealing whether he was in talks with the Congress.
“I have made my decision. I am not one to go around with a begging bowl. I am a self-respecting politician. I am not acting under anyone’s influence,” Mr Savadi told reporters.
Mr Shivakumar was also cautious earlier this week: “He is neither in touch with me nor he has spoken with me,” he claimed
Mr Savadi, in the 2018 election, lost to the Congress candidate, Mahesh Kumathahalli, in Athani constituency.
A year later, when mass defections from the Congress-Janata Dal Secular government enabled a BJP coup, he was rewarded for his role with the Deputy Chief Minister’s post, despite a huge controversy in 2012 after he was caught watching porn in the assembly.
Mahesh Kumathahalli, who was among these defectors, is the BJP’s candidate this time from Athani.
