Karnataka   

BJP leader boycotts rally

PUTTUR: Bharatiya Janata Party leader K. Ram Bhat, who has been advocating the candidature of former MLA Shakunthala Shetty from Puttur, stayed away from the election rally addressed by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi here on Sunday.

Ms. Shetty, who has announced that she would contest as an independent candidate, also chose to stay away. But she has not yet quit the party. Many Bharatiya Janata Party supporters have been openly campaigning for Ms. Shetty, causing embarrassment to the party leaders. In a few places, there were attempts to stop the campaigning by the party’s official candidate, Mallika Prasad.

The district president of the party K. Monappa Bhandari has made it clear that the party will give Ms. Prasad the Form B.

At the rally, the crowds remained mute spectatorors as Mr. Modi called for their support to Mallika Prasad.

This was in contrast to the loud cheering for candidates such as N. Yogish Bhat (Mangalore South), J. Krishna Palemar (Mangalore North) and B. Nagaraj Shetty (Bantwal), as Mr. Modi introduced them.

Speculation was rife that some supporters of Ms. Shakuntala Shetty might disrupt the proceedings and shout slogans against Ms. Prasad. However, nothing of that sort happened.

On the condition of anonymity, some party workers told The Hindu that there were special warnings from senior party leaders, who had got wind of a brewing mutiny. “We were told that we would be expelled from the party if we disrupted the rally,” a worker said. Another worker said: “We are not afraid of any warning. We are keeping quiet only out of respect for Mr. Modi who has come to meet us.”

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