Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (HB)
Udupi, Apr 27: In a fresh development in the battle for Karnataka, Sri Laxmivarateertha Swamiji of Shiroor Math, who had stood as independent candidate, has withdrawn his nomination.
In a letter to the media on Saturday April 27, Shiroor Swamiji said that he was taking the decision not to contest the elections due to repeated requests from the BJP to withdraw his nomination as it would divide the votes.
"I wanted to contest the election on BJP ticket from Udupi, but after the party announced Raghupati Bhat as its candidate from here, I filed my nomintaition as independent candidate. The BJP was not doing a good job here, and I wanted to strengthen it. My intention was not to defeat the BJP but to get the party's attention.
"BJP party leaders including central ministers spoke to me asking me to withdraw the nomination. I had said that I would do so if PM Modi himself calls me and requests me to do so," he said.
"I support PM Modi's initiatives especially International Yoga Day and Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. The coming elections in 2019 will be interesting," he added.
He also said that in 2013 when he had supported Congress candidate Pramod Madhwaraj, he had done so because of his respect for Pramod and not because of his party.
When Daijiworld contacted district BJP president Mattaru Ratnakar Hegde, he said, “We are happy that Shiroor Swamiji has withdrawn his nomination. I thank God for this as we never convinced him to withdraw his nomination. Yes, we had told earlier that we will convince him, but later, the leaders of district BJP never had any discussion on the issue.
“We met him on the day of his nomination on April 21. Due to bad health, he got admitted to hospital. BJP party leaders met him there to enquire about his health condition. As far as I know, no one requested him to withdraw his nomination. I do not know what made Swamiji to take this action now,” he said.
Daijiworld tried to get in touch with Swamiji for his comments, but was unable to do so as his phone was not reachable.