Laxman Savadi, the Congress MLA who is being sworn in as a minister, is among the leaders who have been active in the co-operative political arena of northern Karnataka.

Mr. Savadi, 66, is among the younger lot who pursued a career in the co-operative sector in the region. By the time he entered electoral politics in 1999, he had completed two terms as a director of the district central co-operative bank.

He contested as an independent and lost to Congress veteran Shahajahan Dongargaon in 1999. In 2004, Mr. Savadi got the BJP ticket and defeated Mr. Dongargaon, a seasoned politician. He has won four Assembly polls and a legislative council election in 22 years.

Relations with Jarkiholi clan

The Athani MLA’s promotion to the Cabinet, however, is not because of his experience in the co-operative sector or electoral politics. His perceived proximity to Chief Minister D. K. Shivakumar, who is said to have convinced him to defect from the BJP, is said to have weighed in his favour.

Congress has had a hard time choosing from among the 11 Congress MLAs in Belagavi district. In the run-up to the expansion, competing claims from Lingayat leaders Laxmi Hebbalkar, Ashok Pattan, and Ganesh Hukkeri were equally strong.

Another factor is the perceived distance between Mr. Shivakumar and district in-charge minister Satish Jarkiholi, and the CM's desire to promote an alternative leadership in the region.

Mr. Savadi was the ideal candidate for this strategy, as he and the Jarkiholi clan are not exactly on friendly terms. In the elections to the DCC Bank in 2025, Satish Jarkiholi and his brothers allied with BJP leader Anna Saheb Jolle to defeat Mr. Savadi's panel of candidates.

Ramesh Jarkiholi, BJP MLA, has used unparliamentary language against Mr. Savadi in public rallies, more than once.

Equally interesting was the fact that Mr. Savadi tied up with BJP leader and former MP Ramesh Katti to take on the Jarkiholi brothers in this fight.

Crowd-puller among Lingayat leaders

Mr. Savadi’s career progress has been swift in the last two decades.

From a long time player in the elections to the district central co-operative bank and co-operative sugar factories, he has come to be identified as a skilled poll campaigner, whose influence spills beyond his district. He is seen as a 'crowd puller' among the Lingayat leaders. Candidates from as far as Bidar and Ballari districts seek him out during elections.

He belongs to the Ganiga community, counted as a backward sub-caste among Lingayats. He is said to exert significant influence on the Lingayat community in general, and Ganigas in particular.

Controversies in career

His public life has not been free of controversies. In 2012, he resigned from the BJP cabinet after TV channels carried footage of him and his cabinet colleagues allegedly watching obscene videos in the Assembly.

In January 2026, Ningaraj Karennavar, a DCC bank employees’ union leader, registered a police complaint accusing Mr. Savadi, his son Chidanand Savadi, and their followers of abusing and assaulting him, over the transfer of a colleague.

Published - August 03, 2026 04:16 pm IST