From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore
Bangalore, Mar 27: Caught in a tough fight from his pocket-borough of Bangalore South, which had elected him for five consecutive terms and ensured his elevation as an Union Minister in the A B Vajpayee-led NDA regime with the Congress party fielding former Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani, BJP national general secretary H N Ananth Kumar would now face another tough opponent in Sri Rama Sene chief and Hindutva leader Pramod Muthalik.
The Sri Rama Sene chief, who shot into national fame when television footage of the Mangalore pub attack and the chasing and beating of young girls vent viral in national television channels and YouTube in 2009 and later in his opposition to the Valentine’s Day celebrations with young girls and women sending his packets of pink chaddies (panties) and was arrested, faced the ignominy of being admitted into BJP in the morning and dumped within a matter of hours, when his entry into the saffron party evoked nation-wide protests and derision.
Muthalik was admitted into BJP and accorded a warm reception by BJP State President Prahald Joshi in the presence of former chief minister Jagadish Shettar and former deputy chief minister K S Eshwarappa, both of whom have served as State BJP Presidents in the past, on last Sunday.
Prahlad Joshi and the State BJP leaders had apparently decided to admit Muthalik into the party fold in a bid to attract the hardcore Hindutva voters and thereby strengthen his electoral foray.
However, Muthalik’s entry into BJP was criticized and ridiculed in debates on TV channels and the old footage of the pub attack incidents and the Valentine’s Day protests, were beamed repeatedly forcing the BJP national leaders directing the State BJP unit to immediately rescind the order for admission of the Sri Ram Sene founder.
Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parikkar, BJP national spokesperson Nirmala Seetharaman as well as BJP’s opposition leader in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley were the first take sharp objection to Muthalik’s admission into BJP.
Muthalik Admission a 'Mistake’: Jaitley
Jaitley went to the extent of dubbing the admission of the pro-Hindutva leader and mastermind behind the Mangalore Pub Attack in 2009 as a ''mistake” and said the decision to grant admission was taken by the State party unit without consulting the national leadership.
Earlier, Muthalik had filed his papers to contest elections from Dharwad Lok Sabha constituency against Prahlad Joshi, the BJP candidate from Dharwad and also the State Party President, for causing him embarrassment.
Muthalik had claimed that he decided to join BJP at the behest of the RSS leadership in order to strengthen the saffron outfit and help in Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi’s bid to become the country’s prime minister.
The Sri Ram Sene leader is blaming the BJP national general secretary Ananth Kumar as well as the national leaders of BJP for causing him acute embarrassment and therefore decided to ''teach a lesson” to Ananth Kumar by contesting him in Bangalore South.
In Fray in Bangalore South, Dharwad
The Sri Ram Sene leader’s nomination papers in both Bangalore South and Dharwad constituencies were found valid, according to chief Electoral officer Anil Kumar Jha.
It remains to be seen whether Pramod Muthalik remains in contest in both constituencies or gives up one of the two. In case, he chooses to withdraw from contest from one of the two, his presence may lead to polarization of the BJP voters and even snatch a chunk of the hardcore Hindutva voters as the Sri Ram Sene leader enjoys considerable support among Brahmins and other sections of BJP voters.
863 Nominations by 553 Candidates Found Valid
Meanwhile, a total of 51 nomination papers for the April 17 Lok Sabha elections in the State were rejected by the Electoral authorities during the scrutiny on Thursday.
As many as 916 nominations were filed, of which 865 papers by 553 contestants were declared valid, Anil Kumar Jha said.
Speaking to reporters after the scrutiny of the nominations, Jha said no nominations filed by prominent parties - Congress, BJP and JDS - have been rejected, except the nominations filed by substitute candidates.
The Highest number of 38 candidates are contesting from Bidar and the lowest from Uttara Kannada at 10.
March 29 is the last day for withdrawal of nominations.
Rs 2.64 cr cash, Rs 1.35 cr worth liquor seized so far
The CEO said 3.5 tonnes of rice has been sized in the Yelahanka police station limits in Bangalore and cash amount of Rs 3.20 lakh has been seized in Hassan town on Thursday.
He said 608 grams of gold and 7.77 kg of silver worth Ts 15.24 lakh were seized from Alnavar in Dharwd district.
Election authorities have so far seized cash of Rs 2.64 crore, liquor worth Rs 1.35 crore and booked 479 cases of violation of model code of conduct.
The CEO said families conducting marriages of their sons and daughters need not obtain permission from the poll authorities.
However, he said the Election Commission has banned conducting mass marriages.