Shri Ram Sene chief Pramod Muthalik on Sunday claimed that he has sought a BJP ticket to contest the Belagavi Lok Sabha seat in Karnataka. The seat has been vacant since Minister of state for Railways Suresh Angadi died on September 23, 2020 due to coronavirus at the All India Institute Of Medical Sciences in New Delhi.
Pramod Muthalik said this would be his final attempt to enter active politics. "I am aspiring to become an MP from Belagavi and have sought a ticket from the BJP," Muthalik told PTI.
"This is my last chance to get into electoral politics because I am 66 now. If I miss the opportunity, which seems unlikely, I will not contest elections in future," he added.
Muthalik had sought a BJP ticket from the state unit in February and had met senior BJP and RSS leaders in this regard. Muthalik was forced to quit the BJP in June 2014 after just a few hours from when he was inducted into the state unit in Karnataka following widespread criticism and protest from members of the party.
He had hit the headlines after Ram Sene activists assaulted women in a pub at Mangaluru in 2009 for ‘going against Indian culture’ where videos surfaced of Sene members assaulting women. The responsibility for the act was claimed by Prasad Attavar who was the state deputy convenor of Shri Ram Sene, who had said it was a reaction against women who had ‘flouted traditional Indian norms of decency’. The appalling assault by activists of the outfit was condemned across the country.
However, despite the horrifying visuals, Muthalik and all of the others were acquitted by the court citing lack of evidence as many witnesses did not come forward and the video too was not considered by the court, over some technical reasons, according to then Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy.