Sadananda Gowda says he won’t quit BJP, calls for ‘purification to end nepotism’ in Karnataka unit

Gowda’s news conference, which was initially scheduled for Wednesday, was held after it emerged that he would not get a Congress ticket. Though he had announced his political retirement in November last year, he said some BJP leaders had asked him to reconsider the decision. The former Karnataka chief minister said, “I decided to contest again but they left me empty-handed in the end.”

Without revealing names, he took a veiled dig at the state BJP unit under BJP Parliamentary Board member B S Yediyurappa. “People taking responsibility for the state unit have become selfish,” Gowda said. “The talk on the street was that the party was being reduced to one person, his children, family and chelas (disciples). The state unit should be rid of such a setup,” he added.

Calling for a “purification” of the state unit, Gowda said, “The major step in purification is to end nepotism.”

Yediyurappa’s second son B Y Vijayendra is the BJP state president while his elder son B Y Raghavendra is seeking a third term as MP from Shivamogga Lok Sabha constituency.

Meanwhile, BJP MP B N Bache Gowda submitted his resignation to the party Thursday. Though the party is yet to announce a candidate for the Chikkaballapur constituency, Gowda was unlikely to be fielded again. His son Sharath Bache Gowda is a Congress MLA from the Hoskote constituency.