While Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel was made the BJP state president of Karnataka, Ramanath Rai, the Congress leader from Mangaluru, has said that he was given the job because he spoke ill of Mahatma Gandhi
Bengaluru: The BJP top brass sprang a surprise on Tuesday (August 20) by announcing that Nalin Kumar Kateel, the BJP MP from Dakshina Kannada, as the state president of the Karnataka BJP.
Though it is a joyous moment for him and this followers, Ramanath Rai, the Congress leader from Mangaluru, has alleged that Nalin Kumar was elevated because he spoke against Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi.
“Nalin kumar Kateel has achieved nothing great that can be credited to him. But he was made the state president because he spoke of ill of Mahatma Gandhi. When the whole world celebrates his birth anniversary as a day of non-violence, Nalin had spoken ill of the Mahatma. He was given this ‘rank’ precisely because of his incendiary words against the Mahatma,” Rai said.
Terming the party as ‘jhoot party’, he also said that people had voted not for Nalin Kumar, but for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He added, “People did not vote for Nalin Kumar, but they voted for Modi. Nalin has no history of any achievement. People will repent their decision.”
We tried to contact Nalin Kumar but he was not available.
On the other hand, BJP spokesperson Sreenath Sheshadri said, “Ramanath Rai’s statement is nothing but a figment of his imagination. Nalin Kumar is a three-time MP. The top brass felt that he would fit the role well. That is the reason they decided to go ahead with him.”
Initially, there were talks that Arvind Limbavali, the BJP MLA from Mahadevapura (Bengaluru), CT Ravi, BJP MLA from Chikkamagaluru and R Ashoka, BJP MLA from Padmanabhanagara (Bengaluru) would be made the state president.
In fact, once Ashoka had openly stated that he had the desire to become the president and move up the hierarchy. But the top brass decided to go ahead with Nalin Kumar.
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