BENGALURU: With the assembly election approaching, the conflict in Karnataka BJP is intensifying. BJP MLC and former deputy Chief Minister Laxman Sangappa Savadi has announced that he will resign from the party in protest against the leadership's decision not to include him in the list of candidates for the assembly elections. Laxman is a close confidant of former Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa and a powerful Lingayat leader.

In the 2018 elections, Laxman was defeated by Congress's Mahesh Kumatalli. Later, Mahesh joined the BJP and helped Yediyurappa to form the government in 2019. Now, the BJP has decided to give a ticket to sitting MLA Mahesh instead of Laxman. Meanwhile, Laxman has called a meeting of his supporters tomorrow to decide the future plans.

The BJP released the first list of 189 candidates for the Karnataka elections yesterday. 52 candidates on the list are newcomers. The list includes 32 persons from the OBC community, 3o from SC, and 16 from ST. 31 candidates have PhD, while 31 candidates are postgraduates.