Sri Ram Sene chief Pramod Muthalik on Monday said he was unhappy over the manner in which the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had rejected his request for joining the party.
"I am saddened by the fact that my membership within the BJP was not accepted. The decision of the central leadrership of the BJP will send a wrong signal to lakhs of workers in my party. I believe, that this decision has been taken in haste which is totally wrong. The Central BJP should understand what the state unit of its party had decided was right, and therefore, they should have waited for a detailed report from the state leadership before making an announcement of this decision," Muthalik said.
However, at the same time, Muthalik reiterated his support to Modi, and conveyed that this current controversy of the BJP declining to induct him into its fold would not make him to change his stand on the Gujarat chief minister.
"Modi is a nationalist Hindu, and, he is the once who can stop corruption. His leadership is required for this nation, and therefore, I support him," Muthalik added.
On Sunday, the Karnataka unit of the BJP inducted him, only for the decision to be overturned by the party's central leadership later in the day.
Muthalik courted controversy in 2009 after Sri Ram Sene members attacked a pub in Mangalore, dragged and thrashed young women for celebratig Valentine's Day and for abandoning Indian customs and traditions.
