Renegades all, five high-profile defectors in Karnataka hope to land on their feet

The former Chief Minister and key Lingayat leader, whose family members were founding leaders of the Jan Sangh in the Hubbali-Dharwad region of Karnataka, quit the BJP and joined the Congress on April 17 after he was told that he would be denied the ticket for the Hubli-Dharwad Central constituency that he has won six times.

He has accused the BJP of forcing him out of a house that he helped build. “Today, the party is run in such a manner that only a few individuals are controlling the entire party. I am not criticising PM Narendra Modi, Union Minister Amit Shah or party national president J P Nadda. They might not be aware of the developments in the state unit,” he said.

Laxman Savadi, 63

The former Deputy CM and a key Lingayat leader from the Belagavi region quit the BJP and joined the Congress on April 14. Savadi was denied the BJP ticket for the Athani constituency in Belagavi that he represented for three consecutive terms from 2004 to 2018. He has accused the BJP of breaking a promise made to him in 2019 when he stepped aside to allow a Congress defector, Mahesh Kumatahalli, to take the seat.

Savadi was overlooked in favour of Kumatahalli in the first list of 189 candidates the BJP announced on April 11. The party’s move to go with Kumatahalli was seen as favouring Savadi’s key political rival in Belagavi and former Congress leader Ramesh Jarkiholi, who defected to the BJP in 2019.

“The BJP did not abide by its promise of giving me the Assembly ticket when I agreed to allow Kumatahalli to contest the bypolls. This has forced my decision to quit the BJP and join the Congress,” Savadi said before jumping ship.

K M Shivalinge Gowda, 65

The three-time Janata Dal (Secular) MLA from Arasikere in Hassan district quit the H D Deve Gowda-led party and joined the Congress in April. There had been speculation about Gowda’s resignation for months. Attempts by senior JD(S) leaders, including Deve Gowda’s son H D Revanna, to convince the MLA to stay in the party failed.

“It is not a question of whether JD(S) has a future in the state. There were differences between me and the party leaders that were not resolved. Therefore, I decided to leave the party,” Gowda said after resigning. The legislator said he was joining the Congress as his supporters from the constituency wanted him to make the move. He was given a Congress ticket with the backing of former CM Siddaramaiah.

S R Srinivas, 60

The three-time JD(S) MLA from the Gubbi constituency in Tumkur district joined Congress at the end of March in the presence of state Congress president D K Shivakumar and Siddaramiah. The former JD(S) legislator was expelled from the party after allegations of cross-voting during the Rajya Sabha elections last year.

Srinivas, also known as “Gubbi” Srinivas, alleged that he was insulted and thrown out of the party for no fault. “I contested on a Congress ticket during my early days at the time of Gram Panchayat elections. Now I feel I am returning home. It was also my dad’s wish who passed away a few months ago to contest and win on a Congress ticket,” said Srinivas who first won as an Independent in 2004 and later thrice from the JD(S). The Congress fielded him from Gubbi.

U B Banakar, 63

The two-term MLA from Hirekerur in Haveri district quit the BJP and joined the Congress last December, long before the Assembly polls were announced.

Banakar who is a Lingayat is considered to be a close associate of former CM B S Yediyurappa of the BJP and was even a winner in 2013 on a ticket from the Karnataka Janata Party, which Yediyurappa had firmed in 2012 after quitting the BJP.

Banakar’s exit from the BJP was linked to the emergence of a new BJP candidate in Hirekerur in the form of the agriculture minister B C Patil, who defected from the Congress in 2019 and won Hirekerur after Banakar voluntarily stepped aside.