Karnataka BJP Minister and six-time MLA Angara S on Wednesday announced his retirement from active politics after he was denied a ticket by the party for the upcoming Assembly elections in the state.

Angara S, an MLA from Sullia in Karnataka’s Dakshina Kannada district, was denied a ticket to contest from the same constituency with the BJP announcing a Scheduled Castes candidate Bhagirathi Murulya in his stead.

On April 11, the BJP announced its first list of 189 candidates for the Karnataka elections followed by a second list of 23 candidates on April 12. Angara was not named in either list.

Responding to the party denying him a ticket for the upcoming polls, Angara said he was shocked and claimed that that his honesty became his undoing.

The Minister said he was retiring from active politics effective immediately and also will not campaign for the BJP in the upcoming elections.

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Talking to newsmen, Angara said he was never much for lobbying and is quitting politics and the party can take care of the new candidate themselves as he will not campaign in the Karnataka Assembly elections.

The BJP announced as many as 52 fresh faces in the party first list of candidates which includes 32 candidates from the OBC community and 30 from the Scheduled Caste community.

The saffron party in its second list of candidates replaced as many as 7 sitting MLAs, including Angara S, however, the party has yet to announce its list of candidates for 12 constituencies including that of Hubli Dharwad Central, Krishnaraja, Shivamogga, Mahadevpura etc.

Nagaraja Chabbi, who joined the BJP after quitting the Congress, will contest on the party’s ticket from Kalghatgi constituency, while ex-MLA Y Sampangi’s daughter Ashwini Sampangi has been fielded by the party from the Kolar gold fields (KGF).

Assembly Elections in Karnataka will be held in a single phase on May 10 and results will be declared on May 13.

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Thursday, the former deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka Laxman Savadi resigned from the primary membership of the Bharatiya Janata Party after being denied ticket.

The BJP last night released its first list of 189 candidates for the Karnataka assembly elections scheduled for 10^th May, 2023. In the list there was no mention of Savadi’s name.

Laxman Savadi was a senior leader of the BJP Karnataka unit who served as the deputy chief minister when B.S. Yediyurappa sat on the Chief Minister’s seat in 2019 after H.D. Kumaraswamy.

Savadi considered being one of Yediyurappa loyalist was the most prominent Lingayat face of BJP after the latter, he contested the 2018 state polls from the Athani constituency against Congress’s Mahesh Kumtahalli who won the seat.

Kumtahalli was one of the rebel MLAs who left their party and joined hands with BJP that help form its government under Yediyurappa in 2019.

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The BJP on late on Wednesday denied Laxman Savadi’s ticket and went on to choose Kumtahalli as the most favourable candidate for the Athani constituency.

BJP sidelined Savadi had been applying pressure over the party high command for ticket for a long time but the pressure went vague. Addressing the reporters Savadi said that for the decision of the people of Athani constituency is the priority than the party’s decision and that he will take a final decision tomorrow post discussion with his supporters.

Savadi has convened a meeting of his supporters on Thursday to take a decision on his future path.

There are speculations about Laxman Savadi probability of joining Congress but Karnataka state Congress working president Satish Jarkiholi giving clarification said there was no such discussion on senior level and nothing about it has not to his knowledge yet.

Of the 189 candidates that were announced by the BJP, 52 are new entrants who have assigned tickets. The list includes 32 OBC candidates, 30 SC candidates, and 16 ST candidates.

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Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Tuesday alleged that BJP is inciting riots in Maharashtra, adding that the saffron party’s version of Hindutva is not acceptable to them.

Speaking at a students’ gathering at Hyderabad’s Gitam University Aaditya Thackeray launched a scathing attack on the BJP, saying that right-wing party’s party version of Hindutva was unacceptable to him, his father and grandfather (Balasaheb Thackeray) and to all the people of Maharashtra.

Thackeray said that for him, Hindutva is clearly defined and “we don’t burn people over what they eat”, adding that the BJP was inciting riots in Maharashtra to disturb communal harmony ahead of next year’s Lok Sabha elections.

Aaditya Thackeray also accused the BJP of “backstabbing” the then undivided Shiv Sena in 2014 and is now inciting riots in Maharashtra…. “I am a Hindu and was a Hindu even when the BJP broke its alliance with the Shiv Sena in 2014. The BJP backstabbed us in 2014. We were Hindus then; we are Hindus now.”

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The Shiv Sena (UBT) leader, further said that the Ram Temple in Ayodhya was being constructed because of the Supreme Court’s decision, not because of the Centre.

Thackeray also took aim at the BJP for allegedly abandoning the issue of Kashmiri pandits, asking why the “world’s largest pro-Hindutva party” wasn’t speaking about the plight of Kashmiri pandits who are being killed in target killings even to this day, while the BJP had promised to provide them safe haven.

Thackeray said that the BJP did not respect Bal Thackeray’s ideology because they wouldn’t have tried to destroy the party he built from scratch if that was the case.

On being asked if the BJP or Eknath Shinde is the bigger threat to the Shiv Sena (UBT), Thackeray said the Maharashtra Chief Minister isn’t a threat at all, while also adding that they don’t have any personal issues with the BJP.

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