Veteran BJP leader and former Chief Minister of Karnataka Sadananda Gowda has made a big announcement, stating that he has decided to retire from electoral politics. The announcement has come ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls due to which it has drawn major national attention and it has also signaled that Gowda will not be contesting in the upcoming general elections. 

70-year-old Sadananda Gowda is a BJP bigshot in Karnataka and he also had served as a Union Minister till July 2021.  In Modi's cabinet, Gowda had served as a Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers and he also had held portfolios of Railways, Law, Statistics, and Programme Implementation. Gowda is currently representing the Bangalore North constituency in Lok Sabha. 

Responding to a question on whether he would become Karnataka BJP chief again, Gowda said, "I have decided not to continue in electoral politics. For thirty years, my party has given me everything. After BS Yediyurappa, I am the number one beneficiary in the party." He also listed out his three-decade political tenure and the positions that he had held. 

Gowda said to reporters, "I have been in politics for thirty years - 10 years as MLA, 20 years as MP, one year as Chief Minister, one-and-a-half years as the leader of opposition, five years as deputy leader of opposition in the assembly, four-and-a-half years as party's president (in Karnataka), and for seven years I have been a minister in the Union Cabinet under Prime Minister Narendra Modi." 

"If a politician is not happy after all this, he is not a true politician, he is selfish. I am ready to serve the party in any way I am asked to", Gowda added. Speaking about Gowda's decision to quit electoral politics, former Karnataka Chief Minister and veteran BJP leader BS Yediyurappa had thrown a different version that Gowda has taken this decision after he was asked by the BJP's central leadership not to contest in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

According to PTI, Yediyurappa on Thursday - November 9, while speaking to the reporters, said, "Sadananda Gowda has got instructions from the central leadership. He will actively participate in the party activities, but he has decided not to contest in elections." Yediyurappa has asserted that Sadananda Gowda has got several responsibilities from the party and he will be involved in the party activities. 

Asked whether Gowda's decision came following indications that he may not get a ticket to contest in the upcoming general elections or after being sidelined by the high command, Yediyurappa said, "He (Gowda) has been told directly not to contest the polls this time. So, he has said that he has got several responsibilities from the party and there have not been any shortcomings from the party's side and that he will be involved in the party's activities."