Bangalore, March 28 (IANS) Outraged by his ouster within hours of joining the BJP recently, a defiant Sri Rama Sene chief Pramod Muthalik Friday said he was contesting the Lok Sabha polls from Bangalore South and Dharwad constituencies in Karnataka.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's Ananth Kumar and Prahlad Joshi are in the fray in Bangalore South and Dharwad.
"I am contesting from both the seats as an Independent to defeat Kumar and Joshi as they humiliated not only me, but also betrayed thousands of our activists. Though there is tremendous pressure on me to withdraw from BJP and RSS leaders, I will not and will fight both of them," Muthalik told IANS here Friday.
The returning officers in both constituencies accepted Muthalik's nomination papers Thursday.
Karnataka's 28 parliamentary constituencies will see single phase polling April 17.
BJP general secretary and five-time MP Ananth Kumar is contesting from Bangalore South for the sixth time, where the Congress has fielded Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Nina P. Nayak.
"I hold Kumar responsible for my quick exit from the BJP, as he forced the central leadership to throw me out soon after I was admitted by Joshi and other leaders, including former chief minister Jagdish Shettar and former state unit president K. Eshwarappa at Hubli March 23," Muthalik said.
He said he had decided to contest to ensure the victory of BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.
"As Kumar dashed hopes of thousands of our activists and people across the state, I am contesting in his constituency to expose his misdeeds and teach him a lesson. He has a grudge against me for the pub attack in Mangalore in January 2009, though I had no direct role in it and had disapproved it," Muthalik said.
On contesting from Dharwad, Muthalik said he had nothing personal against Joshi but was challenging him because he failed to retain his membership in the BJP.
"They (BJP) allowed B.R. Sriramulu to rejoin the party despite opposition from their senior leader like Sushma Swaraj and threw me out without reason though I had joined the party unconditionally. Why this double standard?" he said.
The country's most famous folk singer Sharda Sinha is no more among us. But, her voice will alway
The heat of the sun is increasing all over the country. The mercury has started rising due to the
A roundtable conference of ambassadors for Aero India 2023 was held in New Delhi. Defense Ministe
Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar arrived in New York on Tuesday, days after India suc
The Indian team has geared up for the fourth Test match against England starting in Manchester fr
Weather Update Today: Due to the rains in many states of the country in the past, the weather has
World Music Day 2023: When and how did Music Day start? Learn History and Theme
The day of June 21 is important for all the countries of the world. World Yoga Day is celebrated
Canada: PM Trudeau's chair in danger amid dispute with India, his party gave him time till this date
Amidst the ongoing diplomatic dispute with India, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been
Violence has flared up in the West Bank following the death of two Israelis at the hands of a Pal
A shocking incident took place in Delhi's Nizamuddin area on Thursday night. The entire dispute a
