Miffed over exclusion in the party’s candidate list, BJP is facing a series of resignation from its veteran leaders in Karnataka.
The BJP recently released its first and second candidates lists, comprising of 189 and 23 candidates respectively for the upcoming Assembly elections due to be held on May 10, for which results will be out on May 13. Following this, resignations have been tendered by several BJP leaders of the state unit.
While giving 52 new faces a chance for the elections and several sitting MLAs being denied tickets, the BJP is looking to counter the anti-incumbency sentiment as it seeks to form a government again in the state.
Here is a list of BJP’s popular names in Karnataka who have quit the party:
Jagadish Shettar: Former Karnataka Chief Minister Shettar resigned from the state assembly after being denied a ticket by BJP to contest the upcoming assembly election.
The six-time MLA was hoping to run for the Hubballi-Dharwad central constituency but was turned down by the party. He will now be contesting from the state constituency, but this time on the Congress ticket.
Laxman Savadi: Ex-deputy chief minister Savadi was hoping to contest from the Athani constituency ticket. He resigned as the Legislative Council member of the BJP and also quit the party as he was denied the ticket.
"I have made my decision. I am not the one who goes around with a begging bowl. I am a self-respecting politician. I am not acting under the influence of anyone," said the former deputy chief minister.
S Angara: Angara is a six-time MLA from Sullia constituency in Dakshina Kannada district. He has also been Karnataka's Minister for Fisheries. He announced his retirement from politics, a day after he was denied a ticket by BJP.
R Shankar: BJP MLC Shankar resigned from the legislative council a day after BJP didn’t gave him a ticket to contest. Shankar was one of the 17 opposition MLAs who helped the BJP bring down the Congress-JD(S) coalition government in 2019.
Shankar was aspiring to contest the election from Ranebennur but was replaced by Arun Kumar Pujar.
M P Kumaraswamy: Mudigere BJP MLA Kumaraswamy announced his resignation from BJP. He blamed national general secretary C T Ravi for not getting nominated. He has now joined the JD(S).
Vishwanath Patil Hebballa: Three-time MLA from Chittapur constituency also submitted his resignation after he was denied a ticket.
Raghupati Bhat: Udupi MLA Raghupati Bhat was denied a ticket by the BJP. While addressing the media, he said that he was deeply pained by the treatment meted out to him by the party. He was replaced by Yashpal Suvarna who has strong support among the party cadre with his campaign for cow protection and the fight against hijab in educational institutions that raged in the coastal district in early 2022.
MLC Aynur Manjunath: A senior Lingayat leader from Shivamogga district, Manjunath announced his resignation as an MLC and also from the primary membership of the party. Meanwhile, JD(S) has already declared Manjunath to be its candidate for the Shivamogga City constituency
(With inputs from agencies)
