When former Karnataka chief minister and senior BJP leader Sadananda Gowda announced his retirement from electoral politics, he hardly took his signature smile off his face. He has worn it even through the most trying times in both his personal and political lives.
The senior leader surprised his family by making the announcement on Wednesday. As a result, the former Union minister gave up his seat in Bangalore North, where he had run in the previous Lok Sabha election.
“I have decided to give up on my career in electoral politics. The party has given me everything over the course of my thirty years in politics. I held positions as an MLA for ten years, an MP for twenty years, a chief minister for one year, the president of the state party for more than four years, and a cabinet minister for seven years during the Narendra Modi administration. I can’t aim higher because if I did, people would call me selfish,” he remarked.
Strong political rumors had been circulating for a few months, claiming that Gowda was angry that the party’s high command had sent him hints that he wouldn’t be receiving a ticket to run in the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections. The party leadership recently called the four-time MP to Delhi. This occurred against the backdrop of the leader publicly criticising the BJP’s alliance with the JD(S). Gowda claimed that the Karnataka state leaders had been ignored by the central leadership when it made the important decision.
“The decision for the alliance was taken without any discussion with a state leader or the core committee, which includes former Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, a member of the Parliamentary Board. It should have been a collective decision, one taken after seeking the opinions of the state leaders regarding the alliance,” Gowda had stated in an interview with a Kannada newspaper.
Gowda’s remarks are alleged to have offended the BJP central leadership, which prompted an important meeting to be held in Delhi on October 25.
