'Porngate' Back In Focus As BJP's Laxman Savadi, Who Once Accused Siddaramaiah Of Watching 'Blue Films' With Ministers, Set To Join Congress

Former deputy chief minister and BJP leader Laxman Savadi is set to join the Congress just weeks ahead of the assembly elections in Karnataka.

Accompanied by Congress MLC Channaraj Hattiholi, younger brother of Belagavi Rural MLA Laxmi Hebbalkar, a close associate of KPCC president D.K Shivakumar, Savadi left Belagavi for the state capital this morning (Apr 14).

On arrival, Savadi met Shivakumar and former chief minister Siddaramaiah in Bengaluru. He will likely meet the Chairman of the Legislative Council, Basavaraj Horatti, later this afternoon and submit his resignation.

Upset over not being given a BJP ticket for the upcoming assembly elections, Savadi on Thursday (April 13) announced that he would resign from the membership of the Legislative Council and the primary membership of the party.

While Savadi has so far claimed that he had received offers from both Congress and JD(S), political circles in the state are inclined to believe that he will join Congress.

According to informed sources, Shivakumar has reportedly brokered an attractive deal for him to switch allegiance. The invitation to Savadi is also said to have the approval of Siddaramaiah.

Savadi is tipped to enter the fray from Athani assembly constituency as a Congress candidate.

Why Savadi Rebelled?

Despite clear signals from the ruling BJP that he is unlikely to be fielded from Athani, Savadi launched his electoral campaign in the constituency. He held several outreach meetings with various communities, including Muslim and Panchamasali organisations which is believed to have further irked the party's high command.

Refusing to accede to Savadi's clamour for a party ticket, BJP decided to denominate sitting Athani legislator Mahesh Kumthalli.

Kumthalli, a loyalist of former Minister Ramesh Jarkiholi, was among the 17 legislators who defected to the BJP in 2019 helping it form the government. Kumthalli resigned from Congress and sought re-election as a BJP nominee. He scored a handsome victory.

In 2018 assembly elections, Savadi, who was the BJP candidate, was defeated by Kumthalli, who was then in Congress.

Savadi has long-running political feud with Kumthalli's mentor Ramesh Jarkiholi, who operates a powerful fiefdom in parts of Belagavi district. A sworn rival of Shivakumar, Ramesh Jarkiholi left the Congress and switched allegiance to BJP in 2019.

In the run-up to the 2018 elections, Jarkiholli had even convinced Prabhuchannabasav Swami of Motagi Mutt in Athani to contest the elections on a Congress ticket against Savadi. Motagi Math has lakhs of disciples in and around Athani taluk. Prabhuchannabasav Swami was at the forefront of the movement for a separate religion status mooted by Congress.

While it was nearly certain that Prabhuchannabasav Swami would become the first seer in Karnataka to contest on a Congress ticket, the party decided to field Kumthalli in a last-minute move.

Deputy CM In BJP Government

In a move that baffled party insiders and political observers, Savadi was picked out of electoral oblivion and elevated as Deputy CM of the state in 2019 when the BJP wrested power from Congress-JD(S) after it swept the Lok Sabha elections in the state and nationally.

Savadi, along with named Govind Karjol and Ashwath Narayan, were announced as deputy chief ministers in the state cabinet led by B.S Yediyurappa.

Savadi was not even a member of either house when he was made the deputy CM. He was later elected to the legislative council.

Savadi's inclusion in the cabinet caused resentment among some leaders, especially with Kattis, another influential political family in Belagavi.

Various theories came to the fore attempting to decode his elevation as deputy CM.

One section of the party claimed that Savadi, who enjoys the trust of the party's national general secretary B.L Santosh, was inducted into the cabinet to rein in Yediyurappa. However, another section of the party dismissed the speculation saying that Yediyurappa himself rewarded Savadi for his help in bringing BJP back to power by persuading a few key legislators from the Belagavi district to switch allegiance to the party.

Some Kannada journalists claimed that a Maratha leader close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah managed to swing it for Savadi.

Savadi belongs to the Ganiga Lingayat community, spread across the Belagavi, Bagalkot and Vijayapura districts of Karnataka and Kolhapur, Nanded and Latur districts of Maharashtra.

Viewing him as a critical asset in swaying Maratha and Lingayat voters in border taluks of Maharashtra in the BJP's favour, the party leadership handed him the responsibility for Sangli and Kolhapur districts during the 2019 Maharashtra assembly elections. However, BJP won only two of 18 seats in Sangli and Kolhapur districts, which reportedly earned him the wrath of the party's top leadership.

Savadi was dropped from the state cabinet when BJP effected a change of guard from Yediyurappa to Basavaraj Bommai.

Ever since his ouster from the state cabinet, an increasingly marginalised Savadi was locked in a bitter confrontation with a BJP faction led by Ramesh Jarkiholi in the Belagavi district.

'Porngate'

In 2012, Savadi gained infamy when he was caught watching porn clips during the proceedings of the Legislative Assembly. Savadi was the Minister for Cooperation in the BJP state government led by CM Sadananda Gowda.

The footage showing Savadi watching the clip was shot by a local TV cameraman perched behind in the elevated media gallery. Two other ministers, Krishna Palemar and C.C. Patil, were also seen peeping into Savadi's phone and gesturing mirthfully.

Siddaramaiah, the leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly, sought to move a resolution for the immediate disqualification of the three members. Savadi, Palemar and Patil apologised to the house and tendered their resignation from the cabinet over their misdemeanour.

Siddaramaiah even made a fervent appeal to Speaker K.G. Bopaiah to use his "special powers" to expel them.

"The three have violated the sanctity of the House and murdered democracy," Siddaramaiah thundered.

When Siddaramiah as CM raised the controversy in the state assembly in 2017, Savadi retorted by accusing Siddaramaiah of watching blue films with his ministerial colleagues.

The attempt to woo Savadi is seen as a desperate gambit from the Congress as it struggles to find candidates to take on the powerful BJP incumbents in Belagavi district