In a sudden turn of events, the BJP has done a volte-face. Barely a few hours after announcing the induction of the controversial Sri Ram Sena leader Pramod Mutalik in to the party by the state unit, the party’s central leadership has set aside the proposal.
The party, in a media advisory through an SMS announed: “Due to various reasons induction of Pramod Mutalik has been set aside under central party direction by the state president Prahlad Joshi.”
Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar had today opposed the induction of Muthalik into the BJP and asked for cancellation of his membership.
Earlier, during the day, the BJP had welcomed the controversial Sri Ram Sena chief into its fold in a bid to avoid the possible division of the Hindu votes in the forthcoming elections to the Lok Sabha.
Mutalik had joined the BJP at Hubli in the presence of state BJP president Prahlad Joshi and leaders K S Eshwarappa, Govind Karjol and others. Joshi also announced the merger of Sri Ram Sena into the BJP. Mutalik had earlier announced that his outfit would be fielding candidates in six Lok Sabha constituencies in the state.
He had stated that he would contest from Dharwad Lok Sabha constituency and had kicked off the campaign. Political observers had considered this a pressure tactics. However, the BJP had played down Mutalik’s threat initially, but relented when the Congress indicated that it would field Dharwad Rural MLA Vinay Kulkarni as its candidate against Prahlad Joshi.
Vinay Kulkarni is a Lingayat and the perception that he may snatch away a big chunk of Lingayat votes which otherwise would have gone to the BJP, the saffron party decided not to take chances. The BJP wants to plug all loopholes and keep its vote bank intact.
To preempt the possibilities of the Sri Ram Sena candidate dividing the Hindu votes, the BJP decided to accommodate Mutalik in the party and placate him. The RSS, which had initially refused to allow Mutalik back into the party, was convinced by the BJP leaders on the need to keep him within its fold.
A full time RSS worker hailing from Hukkeri in Belgaum district, Pramod Mutalik had founded Bajrang Dal and later fell out with the Sangh Parivar. He then launched the Sri Ram Sena. Mutalik had hit the headlines with his controversial acts like attacking pubs in Mangalore and had attracted several police cases against him for his provocative pro-Hindu speeches. He had been trying to re-enter the BJP during the elections to Karnataka Assembly in 2013.
Prahlad Joshi will file his nomination on Monday. Meanwhile, the Congress is yet to announce its candidate officially for the Dharwad Lok Sabha seat.
It has delayed the announcement as the candidature for neighbouring Haveri constituency is yet to be finalised.
Karnataka RDPR minister H K Patil has pitched for his cousin D R Patil as the Congress candidate from Haveri, while the party was interested in fielding Salim Ahmed, a Muslim. The candidate for Dharwad seat depends on who gets the ticket for Haveri. If D R Patil is given the ticket there, a Muslim has to be accommodated in Dharwad.
The Janata Dal (S) is waiting for the Congress to finalise the candidate. It expects those who have been denied a ticket by the Congress to approach the JD(S) for the ticket and the party may well oblige.
