Sri Ram Sene will field candidates from 25 Assembly constituencies to expose fake Hindutva practised by some BJP leaders, sene founder Pramod Mutalik said in Bagalkot on Sunday.
“I will fight from Karkala in Dakshina Kannada. My fight is not against BJP per se. It is against some fake Hindutva leaders in the BJP,” he told journalists.
He said that he had mentored and groomed Sunil Kumar, Minister and BJP MLA from Karkala, during the Bababudangiri agitation in Chikkamagalur district. He said that sene workers had invited him to contest from Karkala or Terdal in Bagalkot. “But I zeroed in on Karkala,” he said.
Mr. Mutalik said that he is a devout follower of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and that he is planning to fight polls only to spread the good word about Mr. Modi’s governance. “Leaders like Mr. Sunil Kumar are not doing this. He is surrounded by Congress workers and leaders. I chose to contest from Karkala as I want to teach him a lesson,” he said.
Mr. Mutalik also said that most BJP Ministers and leaders are engaged in rampant corruption, by throwing the BJP ideology to the winds.
He revealed that he had sought BJP ticket from the Belagavi parliamentary seat after the death of Suresh Angadi. “Then, I met BJP and Vishwa Hindu Parishat leaders also. But they overlooked my claim. They did not realise that it was Mr. Mutalik and his followers who campaigned for the BJP in the 224 Assembly seats across Karnataka,” he said.
