Will quit BJP, says former Dy CM Laxman Savadi
Belagavi (PTI): Former Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi on Wednesday announced his decision to resign from primary membership of the BJP, a day after the ruling party denied him a ticket to contest in the May 10 Karnataka Assembly elections.
Sitting MLA Mahesh Kumathalli, who was backed by BJP leader and former Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi, was given a ticket in Athani in Belagavi district.
Kumathalli was among the group of defectors, including Jarkiholi, who helped the BJP to bring down the Congress-JD(S) coalition and form its government 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 (then in the Congress).
"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.
Amid speculation that he may join the Congress, the 63-year-old added that he will make a "strong decision" on Thursday evening and start working on it from Friday.
Calling the people of Athani constituency and his supporters as his 'real high command', Savadi said they have directed him to resign from the party as well as the MLC position.
"I am not ready to lose my 'high command'. It's my primary duty to follow their instructions," the former Transport Minister said.
To a question, he said, "When I have decided to resign from my party then should I remain as the MLC? I am a man with self esteem."
Reacting to Savadi's announcement, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai asked him not to take any decision in a hurry.
"I have spoken to Laxman Savadi. I have told him not to make a decision in a haste. I believe that Savadi has a very old relationship, an emotional one, with the BJP," Bommai said.
He added that he is aware that he has been denied a ticket and that he and the party high command will speak to him.
Bommai advised him to think in a calm state of mind so that he can 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.
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Sharad Pawar praised RSS after seeing how it burst fake narrative balloon of LS polls: Fadnavis
Nagpur, Jan 10: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar praised the RSS after realising how the outfit managed to overcome the fake narrative spread by the opposition in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The opposition had claimed BJP wanted to win 400 seats to change the Constitution and end reservations, a narrative which BJP leaders later claimed hit the party hard.
On Pawar praising the RSS recently, the CM said the MVA was successful in creating a fake narrative during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
"When assembly polls were approaching, many people from diverse fields who are inspired by the RSS played their role and burst the balloon of this fake narrative. Sharad Pawar saheb is very intelligent. He would have certainly studied this aspect. He realised that this (RSS) is not a regular political power but a nationalist power. In any competition it is good to praise others," he added.
That is why Pawar may have praised the RSS, Fadnavis said.
Speaking at an interaction with senior editor Vivek Ghalsasi at Late Vilasji Fadnis Jivhala programme here, Fadnavis also said he had asked for organisational work when Eknath Shinde was made chief minister in June 2022, but senior leaders asked him to join the government.
He also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked him not to behave like an extra-constitutional authority in the government.
He said the decision to become deputy chief minister on the command of the party leadership earned him a lot of praise from the cadre.
After the massive mandate the ruling alliance received in the 2024 assembly polls, Fadnavis said people and party workers would not have been happy if the CM was not from the BJP.
Shinde himself agreed within minutes that the CM must be from the BJP, which itself got 132 seats and was close to a majority of its own in the 288-member assembly, he added.
On Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray meeting him during the winter sessions of the legislature in Nagpur, Fadnavis said he had announced he would not indulge in politics of revenge after becoming CM and all leaders responded positively to it.
On chances of the NCP (SP) and NCP coming closer or reuniting, Fadnavis said, "If you see the developments that took place from 2019 to 2024, I realised never say never and anything can happen. Uddhav Thackeray goes to some other party and Ajit Pawar comes to us. In politics anything can happen though I am not saying this should happen."
He praised BJP leader Arun Gujarati from whom he learnt patience, which he claimed was an important quality in politics along with the ability to take criticism.
In a lighter vein, he said, "I only get angry when I am hungry. If you see me angry then give me something to eat and my anger will go away."
