Bengaluru, Sep 9 (IANS): In a bid to completely disown any link with Kannada actress Ragini Dwivedi, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister C.N. Ashwathnarayana on Wednesday asserted that there was no link between Ragini and the BJP as she was not a party member.

The city police had arrested Ragini last Friday over her alleged links with the drug mafia in the state which supplies illegal drugs to high-profile parties involving film stars and TV actors. Ever since her arrest, opposition parties have been cornering the ruling BJP citing Ragini campaigning for the BJP in the recent bypolls in the state.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting with Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa here, Ashwathnarayana said, "Ragini was never in our party. She was not even a member of our party. Yes, she did campaign for our party candidate, which was purely based on their personal equations. In elections every candidate takes his or her own decisions in terms of how his or her campaign should go. Similarly, some of our party colleagues may have invited her to campaign for them but that cannot make BJP guilty of being hand in glove with the drug mafia."

Meanwhile from Mysuru, cooperation minister, S.T. Somashekar asserted that there was no need to link Ragini with the BJP. "The BJP has never encouraged her or anyone for that matter to supply drugs or consume in the state. This is a false notion. As a matter of fact, the BJP is working hard to uproot the drug menace in the state," the minister said and added that Yediyurappa was personally monitoring the case.