Voices

Self proclaimed saviour Muthalik got 10k votes from 2 constituencies: That's democracy

Written by : TNM

Anisha Sheth | The News Minute | May 22, 2014 | 3.29 pm ISTSri Rama Sene founder Pramod Muthalik contested two Lok Sabha constituencies from Karnataka, as a challenge to the two leaders who he claimed were responsible for his two-hour stint in the Bharatiya Janata Party.Muthalik was unceremoniously inducted into the BJP and thrown out in just two hours on March 23. He was rather humiliated. Muthalik blamed the BJP’s national general secretary H N Ananth Kumar for the whole affair, accusing him of spreading lies about him to Modi.He then announced that he would contest against Ananth Kumar (Bangalore South) and the BJP state president Prahlad Joshi (Dharwad) as an independent. Muthalik contested both seats and badly lost both. Muthalik had given grand statements about his clout and how he would raze down all his opponents including the BJP.In Dharwad, Muthalik finished sixth with 5,465 votes, after the BJP, Congress, JD (S), BSP and an Independent. In Bangalore South he came fifth after the BJP, Congress, JD (S), and AAP with 4247 votes.In both constituencies, Muthalik polled less votes than the number of people who exercised the NOTA option. Dharwad registered the NOTA option 12,937 times and in Bangalore South, the number was 7414. Pramod Muthalik may have lost the elections badly, but he still remains rather ambitious. He wants to meet prime minister-elect Narendra Modi to dispel any false notions about him that Modi may have.Speaking to The News Minute, Muthalik said that now the elections were over, he would try and meet Modi. “I want to tell him about our (Sr Rama Sene) achievements here. We have done a survey and there are 30,000 Bangladeshis in Karnataka. They have to be removed. I also want to discuss about the Ram Mandir and two or three other issues,” he said.Asked about why he would still want to meet Modi when it is rumoured that he had approved of Muthalik’s expulsion, Muthalik said: “Ananth Kumar has given him a wrong impression about me.”He came down heavily on Ananth Kumar and said that even though some MPs had been elected for the third or fourth consecutive term, their performance in their constituencies was “zero”. He said that the BJP had won so many seats in Karnataka because of the “Modi wave” and not because its leaders were doing good work. “This vote is a vote for Modi, not for the BJP,” Muthalik said.Full of words, all the time. One wonders, what next for Muthalik?

Rahul Gandhi with KC Venugopal

Being KC Venugopal: Rahul Gandhi's trusted lieutenant

Opinion: Why the Congress manifesto has rattled corporate monopolies, RSS and BJP

‘Don’t drag Deve Gowda’s name into it’: Kumaraswamy on case against Prajwal Revanna

Delhi police summons Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy

Mandate 2024, Ep 2: BJP’s ‘parivaarvaad’ paradox, and the dynasties holding its fort