Former Karnataka chief minister and prominent BJP member D V Sadananda Gowda declared on Wednesday that he is leaving electoral politics.
The announcement made by the former union minister, who is presently a Bangalore North member of the Lok Sabha, is noteworthy in advance of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
“I have chosen to give up on my career in electoral politics. I’ve had everything from my party for thirty years. When asked if he would serve as the state BJP president once more, Gowda responded, “After B S Yediyurappa (former chief minister and veteran BJP leader), I’m the number one beneficiary in the party.”
In a conversation with the press, he stated, “I’ve devoted three decades to a career in politics—10 years as an MLA, 20 years as an MP, a year as a Chief Minister, one and a half years as the leader of the opposition in the Legislative Council, five years as the deputy leader of the opposition in the assembly, four and a half years as the party president, and seven years as a minister in the union cabinet under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.” He continued, “If a politician isn’t content after such an extensive journey, they may not truly be committed to the profession; instead, they might be driven by selfish motives.”
Seemingly frustrated by the party’s lack of action in this area, Gowda had in June urged the party’s upper echelons to refute rumors that he and the other 13 sitting BJP MPs would not receive party tickets for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in next year.
Additionally, he had recently attempted to criticize the party for not consulting state leaders prior to forming an alliance with the JD(S) and bemoaned the length of time it took to name an opposition leader in the Karnataka assembly.
In July of 2021, Sadananda Gowda tendered his resignation from the Union Council of Ministers.
Gowda has served in the Narendra Modi administration as the minister of chemicals and fertilizers in addition to holding positions in the ministries of railways, law, statistics, and program implementation.
